Manga / Sakura Gari

Souma and Masataka.

Sakura Gari ("The Hunt for Cherry Blossoms") is a romantic drama manga by Yuu Watase. The manga was serialized in the Josei magazine Rinka from 2007 to 2010, then compiled into three volumes.

Set during the Taisho Era, it follows 16-year-old Masataka Tagami, the eldest son of a library owner from a small village, as he goes to Tokyo trying to find his place in life. While getting ready to take the entrance exams for the then-Teikoku daigaku or "Imperial University" (now the Tokyo University aka Toudai), he encounters Souma Saiki, the 25-year-old son of the distinguished Saiki Koushyaku family, and becomes part of the Saiki household as a mix of boarding student and servant. The Saiki household and Souma himself, however, are hiding some very dark secrets, and Masataka unwittingly starts getting involved... and it's even worse when Masataka starts finding out about Souma's own dark and troubled mindset.

This manga is a rather explicit entry in the Josei genre, and is a departure from Yuu Watase's usual work in Shoujo romantic series, with a high quotient of explicit yaoi and very dark themes (rape, abuse, etc.).

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This series has examples of:

• Abusive Parent: Sakurako's mother abused Souma physically, emotionally and sexually, having snapped after her child became The Un-Favourite.
  • Katsuragi hints that his mother was abusive too, during the Motive Rant he sprouts while he is raping and torturing Masataka.
    • For that matter, Katsuragi's wife Asayo suggests that her father was like this as well, saying that a beating was always a good remedy when she messed up.
• Accidental Pervert: Masataka meets Katsuragi...when he walks in on him giving Souma head.
• Age-Gap Romance: Souma is twenty-six and Masataka is only seventeen.
• Alone in a Crowd: Souma is constantly in a Friendless Background, especially his childhood where he was trapped in a living hell to the extent it almost drove him into Go Mad from the Isolation territory. That said, Masataka gets his fair share of this as well.
• Alpha Bitch: Kanako Kawamori
• And I Must Scream: Souma's childhood is... there's actually not a word to describe how horrible and torturous his childhood was. It was just... being molested, raped, and tortured daily, isolated, lonely and ostracised, with all the adults turning a blind eye to how horrifically he is being treated. He has a very good Freudian Excuse for his behaviour (though it does NOT double as a justification for the shit he pulls - and Souma acknowledges that as well, though the fandom does NOT). In fact, considering what happened to him, it's actually surprising that he is able to function as well as he does. This extends beyond Break the Cutie and through the Trauma Conga Line; each new hit keeps breaking him.
• Anguished Declaration of Love - Souma tries to give Masataka one in chapter 7, but Masataka immediately cuts him off and tells him he doesn't want to hear it.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: Most of the nobles and aristocrats are shown to be very snooty and insufferable. Even Souma and his family, although not shown to be snooty, are certainly very messed up.
• Arranged Marriage: Kanako's father wants to engage her to Souma as soon as she graduates from her women's college. Souma refuses at first, saying he's too troubled to get married, but later he accepts as Viscount Kawamori says he actually wants Souma to marry Kanako so he can be his successor, rather than for the Saiki's money and prestige. Nothing happens in the end, though, as he's stabbed by Katou in the last pages of the manga and it's not clear if he makes it or not.
  • Similarly, Lord and Lady Saiki were in one of these too. In fact, Abigail was supposed to be a mere one-night stand for the then young Saiki, but he got unexpectedly hung up on her even despite having married the lady and siring kids witrh her. Which explains a LOT about his behavior.
• Ass Shove: A not-comedic example — one of Katsuragi's torture methods against Masataka included him forcibly shoving a household object up the guy's anus right after having raped him.
• The Atoner: Souma's father tries to pass himself off as one. Souma's mother Abigail was a woman he had an affair with in England, but he had to go back to Japan to marry his fiancee; Abigail was already pregnant with Souma at the time, and she died at childbirth. His way of making amends to her? Have Souma dress up as Abigail and continually apologize to him. Yeah, he's messed up.
  • Also, Souma's guilt about Sakurako's situation gets him in huge problems since she's literally crazy for him. And later, when Masataka snaps horribly on him for all of his sexual abuse and hiding the info about Takafumi's demise, Souma feels so guilty that he tries to kill himself to atone. "Masataka... is this enough...?"
• Attempted Rape: Subverted: it's believed that Terashima went into the warehouse Sakurako was locked in to rape her, as revenge against Souma; later we learn that she had called him up voluntarily, then crushed his hand and pushed him down the stairs.
• Berserk Button: DON'T touch Masataka. Souma will fucking KILL you, and he will not make it painless.
  • And do NOT attract Souma's attention to yourself. Either Katsuragi or Sakurako will catch and torture you, and neither will make their punishments easier.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Souma is gentle, kind, caring and generally submissive, allowing anyone to screw him if he can get by in life. But you touch Masataka and you've crossed the line.
• Big Brother Instinct: Subverted and followed in different instances. Masataka and his blood-related big brother Takafumi, although they don't look like they get along, are actually very close (with Masataka always having felt guilty about his older brother suffering while working under a different family). Masataka and his younger brother Mitsugu, however, are a different story - Mitsugu is clingy and Masataka is actually cold and mean to him. And then there's Souma and Sakurako, where their relationship actually goes into Brother–Sister Incest.
• Big Fancy House: Three of these!
  • The Saiki family lives in a huge, HUGE Western mansion. That one is pretty recent, however; it looks like it was erected in the space that the original one used to have, and the only thing left from that one is an abandoned Japanese-style warehouse located behind the mansion. This is very plot important: Sakurako was locked away for nine years in the warehouse, and MANY things happen in there.
  • Katsuragi lives in a traditional Japanese house, which is located within the city itself. Said house gets burned down, with him inside.
  • The Kawamori family has a mansion that is just as beautiful and ornate as the Saiki's. The dance at the start of the manga happens there.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Katsuragi seems to be a normal, efficient and handsome doctor at first. Then we see him having sex with Souma, but he still looks like a shady but not openly evil man, even supporting Masataka when he deals a What the Hell, Hero? to a nobleman during the ball. Later, we see that Sakurako has told him to slowly kill her father via poison. And later, there's both his abuse of his wife and what he did to Masataka (read: raping and torturing him out of jealousy.). And then get to find out what he did to Souma himself...
  • Katou counts too. he actively helped break his own child, Youya/Sakurako, into little pieces, turning the boy into a total psycho by keeping up his lover's poisonous Mind Screw of him and enabled the abuse of Souma by keeping quiet of all the crap he knew the kid was going though in an attempt to have his own son take over a family he didn't really belong to via murder and other tactics — all while coming across as a Old Retainer, nothing more. (Contrast with Ohatsu, who also kept quiet about Souma's abuse but was wrecked with guilt afterwards and broke down crying when she explained it to Masataka.)
• Break the Cutie: First, we see Masataka getting horribly and painfully broken in the Saiki household as time passes. Then we learn Souma that became so broken by the end of his childhood that he grew into an Empty Shell Stepford Smiler who allowed anyone to screw him if he could get by in life in return. And then we see other characters being very broken, like Asayo and the unnamed maid Honestly, the base premise of the entire series is this trope.
• Broken Ace: Souma. He's handsome, affable, rich, intelligent, a skilled businessman. . . and horrifyingly screwed up.
• Broken Bird: Katsuragi's wife Asayo is utterly broken by his abuse. She ends up killing him.
  • Souma is one of the rare male cases of this trope.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Or better said Brooding Adult Man, Gentle Teenage Boy, since Souma and Masataka can easily pass as a male/male version. Souma may not look like a brooder, but in truth, he's got MASSIVE issues due to his horrifying Dark and Troubled Past, and one of the biggest reasons why he's attracted to Masataka is his gentle, frank approach to him, offering a contrast with how everyone else is obsessively possessive of Souma himself. And then, shit starts going down for both of them
• Brother–Sister Incest: Zig-zagged interestingly through the story. First, we see that Souma and Sakurako are the Half-siblings version, with the latter being very obsessed with the first. Then we see that Sakurako happens to be Youya, his brother, who became a Creepy Crossdresser to cope with the trauma of his mother's death. And THEN it's further subverted when we find out that Youya is in fact the product of Kato and the wife of Souma's father (the one he left Souma's mother for), and hence Souma and Youya are actually not related at ALL.
• But Not Too Foreign: Souma is half Japanese, half English.
• The Butler Did It: Played with all around, in regards to the Saiki household:
  • The family butler Katou He didn't. But his adulterous relationship was ultimately the starting point of the entire tragedy. Until the end, it's implied that he stabs one of the main characters then goes to the police to plays this trope..
  • The housekeeper/cook Ohatsu did not do anything... But can't forgive herself for not doing what she should have done.
  • Masataka himself is a mix of boarding student and servant and he didn't do anything. The closest would be being Souma's lover since homosexuality was penalized back then in Japan, which Souma points out.
  • Dr. Katsuragi used to be a boarding student and servant too and committed some of his worst crimes in these times. Namely, forcing Souma to kill the first Sakurako and then raping him.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Souma can't bring himself to tell Masataka that he loves him and instead rapes him repeatedly, and then gives him an index of poems to describe his feelings. A straight-out confession would have been much less psychologically scarring.
• The Casanova: Souma is the King of this... except that that he's not seducing anyone. Everyone else just wants to screw him and he lets them.
• Cast of Snowflakes: While Watase is known for their male characters looking too similar for their own good, this is completely averted here. Every character has their own unique design, with nobody looking the same, so it's easy to tell who is who, even if the cast is relatively large.
• Celibate Hero: Masataka for the majority of the beginning, claims that he has no interest in things like love, and that love is simply for people's self-satisfaction. (In fact, once he has a wet dream and goes take a cold bath in the nearest well, extremely ashamed). This also brings him a bunch of internal conflicts when he starts feeling attracted to Sakurako and Souma.
• Censor Shadow
• Chains of Love: More like Ropes Of Love. There are a lot of centerfold pictures of Masataka and Souma tied up together.
• Cherry Blossoms: A constant theme in the manga. I.e., Sakurako has locked away because of her behavior in a cherry blossom watching party among other things, Mitsugu makes many paper cherry blossoms as charms to wish Masataka good luck in his studies, and later Katou snaps and stabs Souma, who then collapses under the blossoming cherries.
• Chick Magnet: Souma is shown attracting many, many female suitors.
• Child by Rape: Masataka, who knows it well. He refers to himself as a "dirty child" because of that. That's also the reason why his birth mom gave him away to the Tagami family.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Kanako and Sakurako.
• Coitus Uninterruptus: Souma rapes Masataka...and he doesn't stop when his little sister comes in the room despite Masataka's pleas.
• Cold-Blooded Torture
  • Dr. Katsuragi's rape and torture of Masataka, which includes rape, Ass Shove after the rape, whipping and burning his hand.
  • Also, what Sakurako does to almost every single lover that Souma has among the household staff, and takes pictures of each abuse session. The most notorious cases are: Masataka (tied up, force-fed a meal with glass shards hidden inside, threatened), Terashima (crushes his drawing hand, throws him down a flight of stairs, causes him to end up as a Man on Fire), and an unnamed maid ( Bound and Gagged, savagely beaten up — causing her to lose Souma's baby that she was pregnant with.) In the culprit's own words:
  Sakurako: "That night, I called him (read: Terashima) deliberately... like with all the persons who had a relationship with Oniisama... It's so interesting! Just by punishing them for one night and taking pictures, all of them got scared and became strange..."
• Coming of Age Story: For Masataka, albeit a VERY traumatic one.
• Creepy Child: Both Souma and Sakurako, after the death of Lady Saiki.
• Creepy Crossdresser: Youya, better known as... Sakurako.
• Cut Himself Shaving: Masataka explains away the burn mark on his hand that he got from when Katsuragi put his hand in boiling hot tea with "I got these burns when I was helping out in the kitchen because I was careless with the hot water."
  • Earlier, when one of the maids catches him holding a knife unusually close to his throat, he claims to be sharpening his pencil. He's a student, so she believes him. We later discover that she does know that Souma has been raping him, however.
• Cute and Psycho: Sakurako's mother, who went crazy after Souma was appointed as heir and her kid was disinherited, and soon started abusing him in all senses.
• Dances and Balls: Souma takes Masataka with him to a Dance Ball. Masataka, being a commoner, feels very out of place and uncomfortable.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Souma and pretty much the entire household. Masataka and his sibling/s as well.
• Deal with the Devil: Metaphorical. Souma, after passing over the Despair Event Horizon the first time when he is broken by his stepmother's physical and sexual abuse, and completely isolated and alone because all the adults turn a blind eye to it, turns to Katsuragi for support. He tells him half-heartedly that if Katsuragi kills Sakurako, he'll let him have him. Wasn't the wisest decision.
• Death by Childbirth: Souma's English birth mother, Abigail.
• Downer Ending: Subverted Souma forces Masataka out of the house and bars him from ever returning or seeing him again, in hopes to have him live his own life freely. Masataka is depressed but decides to follow his advice and leave so he will fulfill such a wish. After Katou confessing that he is Youya's father, and that Youya wouldn't want his brother, Souma, to be harmed, he then goes and stabs him. The conversation implies that he consider all the bad things happening in the mansion was his fault in the first place, and going to take responsibility for all death in-story before the police. The stab wound is not quite deadly, but the author definitely Played With the trope.
• Depraved Bisexual: A big reason why Souma is depicted as being messed up and depraved is that he sleeps with women and men (ignoring later implications that he causes their death).
  • Also, Katsuragi.
• Depraved Homosexual: Some of the men that Souma sleeps with.
• Despair Event Horizon: Both Souma and Masataka get hit with this.
  • Sakurako came real close as a little kid, when she walks on Katsuragi forcing Souma to kill her mother (Becoming a Creepy Child and then being confined to the old household grounds doesn't help). She finally goes right over when she realises that Souma, whom she locked in the burning warehouse with Masataka, is almost surely dead (he isn't) and completely loses it.
• Determinator: Despite all of the trauma he goes through when Masataka pulls himself together, he can come up with impressive bravery. Like when he throws the boiling tea on Katsuragi's face so he can escape his torture or saves himself and a pretty much suicidal Souma from dying in a fire.
• Driven to Suicide: Masataka (almost cuts off his throat with a dagger), Souma (slits his wrists open and puts his bleeding arm inside the full bath tub), and Sakurako (slits her wrists open too, then drowns self in a freezing lake). Only the latter dies from it though.
  • Also subverted. Many outsiders believe that Sakurako's mother killed herself by wrist cutting, but Katsuragi killed her by poison and then forced Souma to help him make it look like a suicide. This further leads to the start of Souma becoming a suicidal Empty Shell from both guilt and the heavy trauma he experiences when Katsuragi rapes him the night after this event and continues to sexually abuse him for the remainder of his childhood. Wait, wait, wait, we're not finished yet. Then things go From Badto Worse. No, really. Truth is... Katsuragi claims that Souma entered into a deal with him, when Souma, desperate and already broken from being abused, off-handedly says that he'll let Katsuragi have him if he kills Sakurako. Unfortunately, Katsuragi takes him at his word, and holds this over Souma's head for years, continuously reinforcing the idea that they killed her together, and driving him further beyond the Despair Event Horizon into true suicidal territory and making it impossible for him to ever return to a state even resembling psychological stability.
• Dysfunction Junction: Between Souma's childhood, being raped and tortured DAILY, silently and lonely while everyone pretends it doesn't happen, Masataka's childhood as a lonely and psychologically abused Child by Rape, and the entire situation with Youya, and Souma's stepmother, you have extremes that just keep on climbing.
• Establishing Series Moment: The very first pages show the Saiki family in chaos when they find out the matriarch of the family is dead...naked in a bloody bathtub, with her breasts in full view. And the children see it. This pretty much sets the tone for the entire manga.
• Even the Guys Want Him: Souma. Souma. Souma. Seriously, this trope is Souma.
• Eye Scream: Katsuragi rapes and tortures Masataka, and his last action is putting the other's hand in a pot of boiling water. To free himself, Masataka throws the pot on Katsuragi's face, injuring his eyes and badly scarring his face.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Souma finds out. He's NOT happy.
• Fan Disservice: For all of the Fanservice in the series, there's quite a bit of this too. Like Masataka removing his shirt and jacket in front of Souma to show him the massive scars that came from Katsuragi whipping him, the sex scenes between Masataka and Souma when the first has to Work Off the Debt to the second, all the times a 12-year-old Souma gets touched and groped against his will and/or downright raped, or when a pretty and half-naked girl is seen Bound and Gagged in a mix of Unwilling Suspension and shibari after having been savagely tortured and photographed by Sakurako.
• Fatal Attractor: Every one of Souma's lovers is shown to have horrible endings. He even notices and mentions it himself. Of course, this doesn't stop him from continuing to take lovers.
  • He actually believes that its because he breaks up with them that they go and kill themselves or get into fatal accidents that may have been suicide attempts. ... Despite having a degree from Tokyo University and being a CEO of a company, Souma can be really really stupid.
    • Or he could be THAT much in denial.
• Fingore: Sakurako crushes Terashima's hand before pushing him down the stairs.
  • And Katsuragi puts Masataka's hand in boiling water.
• Forbidden Fruit: The one person Souma finds himself truly falling in love with is the only person who has absolutely no romantic interest in him. As a matter of fact, it's addressed that the main reason he fell in love with Masataka was that he was "different from the others." And Souma, of course, unaccustomed to not getting sex from someone he wants, proceeds to tie Masataka up and rape him repeatedly.
  • From a different angle, this borders on a strange inversion/distortion of I Love You Because I Can't Control You, where everyone wants to control and screw Souma, treating him like a possession, a "doll", but Souma loves Masataka because Masataka doesn't try to control or possess him (i.e. Masataka's affection is pure (read: not bound by sexual possessiveness)).
• Force Feeding: In chapter 6 Sakurako tries to literally force Masataka to eat some of the food she made for him. He's reluctant to do so because the last time she fed him something she had secretly snuck in some glass.
• Foreshadowing: In Takafumi's introduction, he notes that with Masataka's looks he could sell his brother at the Yoshiwara pleasure district for a pretty penny to pay off his debts. Guess what Masataka is forced to do when he finds out through Souma that Takafumi was conned into a massive debt with the Yakuza?
• From Bad to Worse: Masataka's situation seems to be this way with every chapter. As does Souma's backstory. By the end, they've gone way beyond the Despair Event Horizon.
• Go Mad from the Revelation: Happens to Youya, upon witnessing his mother's death. Which prompts him to become Sakurako.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Masataka is heavily scarred after Katsuragi's Cold-Blooded Torture, which includes whipping and burning his hand with boiling tea. In returns, he leaves Katsuragi himself scarred when he throws boiling tea on him.
• Heroic BSoD: Masataka has a HUGE one when he learns that Takafumi was dead in a police raid and Souma kept it from him. And we're not counting the one the morning after Souma raped him.
  • And he has a third one when he explains his backstory to Souma. Souma's reply is a Cooldown Hug and a You Are Not Alone speech.
• High Class Call Guy: Souma will let anyone fuck him as long as there is something for him to gain from them in return. One of the detectives even remarks on it, saying that even back when they were investigating his stepmother's suicide, he had the eyes of a prostitute.
• Historical Fiction: It's set in the Imperial Japan of The Roaring '20s, more exactly in 1923.
• Horrible Judge of Character - Masataka. Honestly, there are all these horrible rumors about Souma, Souma himself acts really weird, strange events keep occurring, and... he just thinks Souma is a nice master. Right.
• Humiliation Conga: Katsuragi, overlapping with Karmic Death.
• If I Can't Have You…: Everyone does this over Souma. And then Souma in turn does this to Masataka.
• Important Haircut: Masataka gives one to Souma to signify Abigail's definitive passing and his father's acceptance of such a fact.
• Impoverished Patrician: Abigail, and Souma until he's acknowledged by Lord Saiki and appointed heir.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: How Souma sees Masataka. What is interesting is that originally Masataka is seen as pure because he's inexperienced and "untouched", however, conversely the more horrible things he goes through, the more and more he approaches All-Loving Hero, gaining compassion and the ability to forgive love that is almost supra-human, so much so that by the end this becomes his default personality. One interpretation of this is that in the end he swaps one kind of superficial purity for a deeper psychological one. ^note It's worth noting that this is one of those cases where this trope is cultivated and deconstructed gradually over the entire series and isn't used to invoke a Purity Sue as Masataka is very pure, but also very flawed (His self-esteem issues are really, really serious).
• Intimate Psychotherapy: Sorta invoked at the end. When Souma and Masataka finally have a sexual encounter not involving anything non-con/dub-con, it's as catharsis after their ordeals.
• I Wished You Were Dead: Masataka tells this to Souma in the middle of his Heroic BSoD. Souma tries to commit suicide.
  • Souma wishes this on his stepmother, and then Katsuragi steps in to replace her in the abuse-and-daily-rape detail after forcing Souma to be complicit. Let's just say, Souma does not have a good history with this trope.
• Just Friends: Souma and Masataka at the beginning... although the very strong romantic undertones indicate what's to come. Masataka believes they're Like Brothers, while Souma wants something entirely different.
• Karmic Death: Katsuragi was using drugs to slowly kill the already ill Lord Saiki. Souma forcefeeds him a high dose of the same drug through a kiss, as punishment for torturing Masataka and abusing Asayo, then deals a brutal "The Reason You Suck" Speech to the immobilized and poisoned Katsuragi before walking away. And after Souma leaves, Asayo (who has finally snapped after all of her husband's abuse) sets him on fire.
• Kick the Dog: So not only is Katsuragi a disgusting pedophile, he rapes and tortures Masataka because of his jealousy and he beats his poor wife.
  • Sakurako's mother and Souma join in with the kicking as well
• Ladykiller in Love: Well, not just a ladykiller, but Souma finally experiences real love for Masataka.
• Leonine Contract: Souma's deal with Masataka to pay off Masataka's brother's Yakuza debts with himself as collateral.
• Little Miss Badass: Towards the end, Sakurako handles herself pretty well with a katana as she attacks Masataka after he discovers her... or better said, his secrets.
  • She already showed signs much earlier, when she catches Souma getting sexual favors from Masataka and then calmly threatens both of them with the same katana.
• Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places: Souma is a combination of this and The Casanova.
• Love Hurts: And how.
• Love Makes You Dumb: Souma, you are a fucking idiot when it comes to Masataka.
• Love Redeems: Souma. Eventually.
• Love Triangle: There is initially a love triangle between Souma, Masataka, and Sakurako. Souma pines after Masataka, who is attracted to Sakurako, who is a Yandere for her brother Souma. The attraction pretty much ends when she starts force-feeding him glass, though.
• Loving a Shadow: Souma's father, since he heavily idealized his long-lost love Abigail.
• Madwoman in the Attic: Sakurako, who has been locked in an old warehouse near the Saiki mansion for nine years after her mother died. Everyone else outside the household believes that she died of illness after Lady Saiki died. After Terashima's "fiery" death, though, she's allowed to return to the main house.
• Mistaken for Murderer: Souma by Masataka, with some Guilt by Coincidence thrown in.
• Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: Rumours are everywhere, everyone calls him the "Angel of Death" or the "Western Doll", or says that he's cursed, but Souma is really a kind person. ... As long as you don't push him off the edge of what little psychological stability he has.
• My Sibling Will Live Through Me - Or more exactly, My Mother Will Live Through Me. Damn, Youya - er, Sakurako.
  • Abigal and Souma. Nuff said.
• Never Suicide: Because Souma hated his stepmother Sakurako for abusing and raping him, Katsuragi takes his words literally and forces a reluctant, young Souma to kill her.
  • It's worse than that - because Sakurako was daily abusing and raping Souma, one day he got fed up and casually mentioned to Katsuragi that if he killed Sakurako, he'd let him "have" him. Cue Katsuragi killing her with poison, and then pulls a shocked and horrified young Souma into the room to slit her wrists to make it look like a suicide. Of course, that night Katsuragi starts raping and abusing Souma. You have to wonder which was worse: Katsuragi or Sakurako?
  • If you account for Katsuragi and Sakurako's actions, the only person in the entire series who was actually confirmed to actually attempt suicide was Souma - although Masataka got close to attempting at one point too. And then Youya/Sakurako kills themself.
• Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: Again, Souma gets saddled with this. Of course, he thinks that he really is evil.
• "Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization: Painfully deconstructed. Both the rape victim and the rapist suffer painfully because they think this is true.
• Old Retainer: Several, though Ohatsu and Katou are the ones who fill in the most.
• The Ophelia: The young maid who actually survived to Sakurako's torture/murder of Souma's lovers, but lost the baby of Souma's that she was pregnant with. The poor girl appears to be a pale and softspoken Shrinking Violet at first, but when she sees Sakurako not too far from her while she's attempting to ask Masataka about his experiences, she has a massive screaming meltdown and a policeman has to calm her down. And it's only later that we find out why.
• Overly-Nervous Flop Sweat: An unfunny variation. Masataka breaks out in a nervous sweat when he is made to have lunch with Souma and Sakurako after Souma blackmailed him into staying.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: Souma asks this of Masataka when he finds all the pictures Sakurako took of him having sex. He doesn't take it well when Masataka refuses.
• Police Brutality: Takafumi dies when he is tortured in police custody.
• Porn with Plot: All the sex scenes here have very important ties to the story.
• Post-Rape Taunt: After Masataka is forced to give oral sex to Souma, he tries to wash off at the well. He unfortunately meets Sakurako at the well, who after pointing to the stains on his clothes pours buckets of water on him and calls him dirty
  Sakurako: Tagami is dirty all over. Terribly dirty. So dirty that no matter how much you wash, it will never come off. You poor thing.
• Psychotic Love Triangle: Masataka/Sakurako/Souma and Masataka/Souma/Katsuragi.
• Rage Breaking Point: Masataka is understandably angry at Souma for raping him, but as much as he wants to get away or tell someone, he can't, because everyone in the Saiki house either already knows about Souma's shenanigans and can't or won't help him for whatever reason, or are deliberately turning the other way. Masataka even suspects his low social class is a reason why, even if he did tell, nobody would believe him. After being on the receiving end of several more rapes, he learns about Takafumi's death, and that Souma deliberately kept him in the dark about it. At this point, Masataka can't take it anymore and absolutely EXPLODES at Souma, giving him an epic "Reason You Suck" Speech and telling him he'd be better off dead. Of course, we all know what this leads to...
• Rags to Riches: Katsuragi is implied to come from a low-middle class family, and now he works both in a famous hospital and is the persona doctors of the Saikis.
  • Souma, too. His Missing Mom was an Impoverished Patrician and his Princess in Rags maternal grandma made him work in the streets. Then he was found by the Saikis and since he was the most qualified to be the prospect heir (Youya was much younger and from an unhappy marriage), they took him in...
• Rape and Switch: Definitely Masataka is going this way. Poor thing.
  • Manages to just scrape through on subversion in that Masataka was turned on when Souma hit on him in the library back in the very first chapter, indicating at least some kind of attraction before that point, but it still swerves close enough to this trope played straight to be a little uncomfortable. The fact that their relationship before this point was rather more pure and platonic with serious Ho Yay subtext could also be seen as another way this trope was subverted. It's still not a nice outcome for the poor boy, though.
  • Souma, on the other hand, has this trope played rather more straight, where he was raped and used for sex by so many people that he eventually came to just not distinguish between genders and would sleep with men or women.
• Rape as Drama: Masataka getting raped by Souma and later by Katsuragi. Oh, and Souma being raped by his stepmom Sakurako and Katsuragi and pretty much any person who finds him attractive, but that's more because he feels he has to indulge everyone's desires.
  • And Masataka's birth mother, who hates him because he's the product of said rape.
• Really Gets Around: Souma. Almost everyone knows that a huge defining trait about him is that he's willing to sleep with anyone.
• Satellite Love Interest: Sakurako passes herself off as this to Masataka, who genuinely starts falling for her. Unfortunately for him, she's a scary Yandere who actually hates him and is incredibly possessive of her brother.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Masataka attempts to run away in the middle of the night after Souma rapes him in the warehouse. Souma puts a stop to that plan.
• Secret-Keeper: Sort-of. As a child, Sakurako saw how Katsuragi forced Souma to kill their mom. She went from The Cutie to Creepy Child and then to Yandere afterwards.
  • Another is the Old Retainer maid, Ohatsu, who witnessed Souma's abuse at the hands of Sakurako's mother, but didn't say anything because it would involve too many problems for the whole household. She could never forgive herself for it.
  • And Souma witnessed Sakurako's murder of Terashima, but kept his mouth shut since he blamed himself.
  • Also, Asayo overheard the noises coming from Katsuragi raping Masataka in the attic of their house. She didn't say anything because, well, Katsuragi would beat her.
• Selective Obliviousness: Yes, Souma, we're sure that the reason why all your lovers keep dying in suspicious circumstances is because you break up with them. This stretches into Too Dumb to Live territory eventually. No, literally, he never realises that Youya was killing off all his lovers and that he would eventually try to kill him despite him threatening to do so, and he seems to just not take into account the fact that Katsuragi has a thing for torturing, raping and killing people and making it look like suicides.
• Self-Made Orphan: Sakurako told Katsuragi to slowly poison Lord Saiki to death, apparently as revenge for her abandonment. Souma found out and used the same poison in Katsuragi's fatal Humiliation Conga.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Respectively: Masataka and Souma, Masataka and Takafumi, Mitsugu and Masataka, Souma and Katsuragi, Youya and Masataka..
• Sexual Extortion: Masataka suffers from this trope when Souma extorts sex from him in order to pay off his older brother's massive debt with the Yakuza.
  • A young Souma found himself at the edge of this when he offered himself in jest to Katsuragi if he kills his abusive stepmother. Katsuragi unfortunately takes him at his word and does so.
• Sexual Karma: Zigzagged all over the way. Souma is very good in bed and often gets pretty good "action" from his sexual partners in return (with Watase offering all kinds of details), but while not outright evil, the man has VERY serious issues. And said partners either have their own issues or get hit with misfortune. Meanwhile, the very kind Masataka never really gets "good sex" since he's raped by both Souma and Katsuragi.
• Shameful Strip: Masataka, when Souma blackmails him into sex. Later, he finds a picture of a half-naked girl who's also Bound and Gagged and who was subjected to this by Sakurako, who beat her bloody for being one of Souma's mistresses.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Gender Flipped during the ball, with Masataka looking nice in a suit.
• Shown Their Work: Watase made quite the bit of research on the Taisho period, and it shows.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Matasuka gives the non-verbal slap equivalent to Sakurako.
• Sleeping with the Boss: Happened many times before the series starts. Souma is the handsome leader of the rich Saiki family, and he often takes lovers among the younger maids and boarding students/butlers ^note (highschool/college-aged young men who work as servants in Big Fancy Houses during the Taishou Era, in exchange for academic/economic help from the main families); all of them meet rather screwed up ends after being harassed, tortured and, in one case at least, murdered by Souma's sibling Sakurako. This also makes the plot of the series itself, as the protagonist of the series is a boy named Masataka who is employed at the Saiki house, and later Souma starts to make passes at him...
• Slipknot Ponytail: Happens twice: Souma's hair ribbon falls loose just before he rapes Masataka and when Souma has sex with Asayo Katsurage to get info about what Katsuragi did to Masataka, her long black hair (until then arranged in the traditional Japanese manner) goes loose.
• Snow Means Death: Sakurako dies this way, slitting "her" wrists open with a katana and drowning self in a pond as the snow falls.
• So Beautiful, It's a Curse: The readers are constantly reminded in the story of how Souma suffered a messed up childhood due to his gorgeous looks.
• Spiteful Spit: When Katsuragi gloats about how he manipulated a young Souma into killing his evil stepmother, as he's straight up torturing Masataka, the latter realizes the guy's batshit insane. Katsuragi comments he'd like to keep Masataka as a pet/slave, which makes Masataka spit in his face. Cue Katsuragi throwing Masataka's hand into a kettle of boiling hot water.
• Spurned into Suicide: Souma's ex-lover Yoshino.
• Stalker with a Crush: It's mentioned several times that anyone who starts having a relationship with Souma ends up becoming this. Souma, in turn, starts acting this way towards Masataka.
• Staircase Tumble: Subverted: Sakurako pushes Terashima down the stairs after crushing his hand, but that's not what kills him. Catching fire is what gets him done.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: The world certainly liked bending over to make sure Souma and Masataka won't be happy. Souma's own actions and Masataka's issues don't help.
• Stockholm Syndrome: Masataka developing feelings for Souma after being forced to stay with him after being blackmailed with his brother's debt. Lampshaded by Masataka himself when he wonders why does he keep coming back to the Saikis, even after all that has happened.
  • Lima Syndrome: Souma, in return, develops genuine feelings for Masataka as time passes.
    • A Match Made in the Saiki Mansion.
• Tap on the Head: Takafumi receives a hard smack on the head during his police interrogation. He dies the next day.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Katsuragi. Too bad he's an absolute asshole. He later is horribly scarred when Masataka subjects him to Eye Scream.
• Together in Death: When Sakurako locks Souma and Masataka in a burning building, Souma resigns himself to this. Masataka, however, goes Determinator and saves them both.
• Trauma Conga Line: Souma is the poster child for this trope, although Masataka gets slugged with it a fair few times himself.
• Troubled Abuser: Souma was terribly abused in his past, then grows to abuse the person he loves.
• The Un-Favourite: Sakurako became this after Souma's arrival. In response, Sakurako's mom starts abusing Souma.
• Unwanted Spouse: Asayo and the first Sakurako
• What Beautiful Eyes!: Masataka's "beautiful and honest eyes", according to Souma.
• Work Off the Debt: Souma does this to Masataka after Masataka's older brother Takafumi gets into debt. Of course, the method of paying is less than pure...
• Yakuza: The people that Takafumi is in debt with.
• Yamato Nadeshiko: Deconstructed, and how. Katsuragi's beautiful, polite and soft-spoken wife Asayo seems to be one, at first sight; then, Masataka notices the bruises on her neck and wrists, and the deal becomes a LOT more unsettling...
• Yandere: Good god, Sakurako. The girl is absolutely batshit insane. One moment she'll be acting all sweet, the next she'll be trying to kill you.
  • Souma too, though he mellows out later on. And then we see why he is like that...
  • Katsuragi, for Souma.
  • Asayo, when she deals Katsuragi the last part of his Karmic Death.
• Yaoi Genre: The story focuses on Masataka and Souma's deepening relationship, and this is the first of Yuu Watase's works to explore an explicit romance between two men.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Masataka has a look of utter contempt when Souma compliments him for quickly becoming skilled at oral sex.

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