Visual Novel / Kindred Spirits on the Roof

"Go steady go! It's up to you! Go cheer up, go! I've decided to go!"

"Freshman and Senior.
Friendship? Love?
Teacher and Student.
An Unlikely Romance.
Together for Life."

— The opening, discussing some of the couples

One day, antisocial second-year student Yuna Toomi is having lunch on the roof by herself as usual, when she finds herself encountering two students in old-fashioned uniforms she's never seen before. To her shock, she discovers that these two girls - the Yamato Nadeshiko-esque Sachi and bubbly Megumi - are actually ghosts, having died at this school 80 and 30 years ago respectively. The two are just as shocked - normally they are invisible to living humans, and Yuna is the first person they have encountered who can actually see them. Very quickly, Sachi takes advantage of the opportunity to present Yuna with a request.

You see, both Sachi and Megumi are a couple, and both have the highest respect for the love between girls. With nothing much better to do, they have spent most of their time as ghosts watching over the students of their all-girls high school, cheering on from the sidelines any girls who also feel love for another girl in her heart. Thus their suggestion: they tell Yuna about which potential couples are out there, and then Yuna will actually do everything she can to help them get together that Sachi and Megumi can't. But their quest isn't entirely selfless, either: the reason why Sachi and Megumi haven't moved on yet is that they wish to be truly united in the most intimate way possible... but they don't really know how, and their hope is that by joining these couples together and creating a 'yuritopia,' they'll learn from the other girls and figure it out.

Yuna, who up until now had considered herself a perfectly ordinary girl whose impression of lesbians could be summed up as 'I guess people like that exist too, then,' reluctantly finds herself drawn in as the school's resident yuri cupid.

Kindred Spirits on the Roof (Okujou no Yurirei-san) is a Yuri Visual Novel first released in Japan on February 8, 2012, and given an official English localization and Steam release by Mangagamer on February 12, 2016. The English version sold by both Mangagamer and by Steam has none of the original content removed or altered. It spun off into an official sequel manga with two volumes and four Drama CDs.

Much later Liarsoft announced Kindred Spirits on the Roof: Full Chorus, an Updated Re Release of the game, with full voice acting, new, updated CG, and expansions to the various scenarios, which would release in January 2018. In March 2018 it was announced the remake would be getting an English release in 2018 by Mangagamer.

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Kindred Spirits on the Roof provides examples of the following:

• Accidental Discovery: How Megumi learns about her ability to possess people. While gushing to Yuna about the day she spent with Sachi, she notices she's ended up in the library, which is usually off-limits to her, and realizes she got there by clinging to Yuna.
• Accidental Public Confession: Zigzagged between Youka and Aki at one point. Youka is planning to confess her feelings in song to Aki, but well before doing so, she tells Aki what she's planning to do, apparently without realizing what she has done. Aki doesn't react to this, because she's looking forward to hearing what Youka will sing.
• Arc Words: During the month of July, "[i]f you don't say anything, if you don't tell them." The first time they pop up is when Yuna tells Miki that unless she tells the people making requests of her how she feels, they'll keep taking advantage of her. The second time is when Yuna talks with Nena and thinks them after Nena complains about Umi and Sasa walking on eggshells for her sake.
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  • Sachi delivers one to Yuna because of the latter trying to find out who Hina, who was trapped in a love triangle with two of her upperclassmen at the time, chose between the two.
    Sachi: Does it matter to you, which one Hina-chan goes out with, Yuna-san?
  • Hina asking said two upperclassmen why they're fighting even though they clearly love each other, because it forces them to confront how stupidly stubborn they've both been and how it's dragged in someone that never should have been involved in their argument in the first place.
  • In the days after Seina kisses a sleeping Miki, Hina notices that Seina is troubled. Seina tells Hina that she hurt someone close to her, and is afraid of how that person will react. Hina urges Seina to go see that person, asking her, "She's precious to you, isn't she? Is she someone you can't stand being near?". This question forces Seina to confront the fact that she misses Miki and doesn't want to be parted from her.
• Atomic F-Bomb: Some characters use profanity freely, but Seina really lets the photography club girls have it after overhearing them call Miki a masochist.
  BULLSHIT! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY?! HUH?!
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Megumi and Yuna spend most of their time together arguing, but when the kindred spirits finally move on, Megumi can't help but cry, and apologizes for being mean to Yuna, who accepts it easily. After they're gone, Yuna realizes that she is crying as well, and admits that she will miss both of them.
• The Big Damn Kiss: A lot of the couples have a dramatic kiss, but the biggest and damnedest is probably Aki and Youka's Concert Kiss in front of a crowd.
• Bickering Couple, Peaceful Couple: Out of the two couples that are together at the start of the game, Matsuri and Miyu are the Bickering Couple to Sachi and Megumi's Peaceful Couple. The former two often bicker and are not on speaking terms between the training camp and the end of the school festival, while the latter two's relationship is more stable.
• Bittersweet Ending: The ending is mostly sweet with a hint of sadness. At the end of the game, all the couples have gotten together (and in Matsuri and Miyu's case, the two have reconciled), and Sachi and Megumi have had Their First Time with the help of Yuna and Hina(who are also a couple). Sachi and Megumi then leave for the next life contented, but Yuna is sad to part with the ghosts she befriended over the past few months.
• Both Sides Have a Point:
  • The conflict between Miyu and Matsuri is about keeping their relationship secret by refraining from public displays of affection at school. On the one hand, Miyu is understandably concerned about what the consequences might be if people find out, not to mention frustrated with Matsuri for her inability to follow the rules they both agreed on. On the other hand, Matsuri finds it difficult to go without skinship or other such activities for a long time, and rightly points out that the reason behind their rules boils down to hiding their relationship just because they're scared of what people will think. At the start of September, Megumi takes Matsuri's side, while Sachi takes Miyu's, and both of them ask Yuna who she thinks is at fault. Regardless of Yuna's answer, she'll have the following thought.
    Yuna: Frankly I think they're both at fault, but they also both have points.
  • Another example between Miyu and Matsuri comes in an extra scene, which involves how many confessions Matsuri gets. On the one hand, Miyu is understandably a bit annoyed when Matsuri brings this up to her, and can't help but feel a bit insecure given Matsuri's popularity. On the other hand, from Matsuri's perspective, she's merely being honest with Miyu, especially since she turns down all those confessions. Matsuri ends up feeling a bit hurt when Miyu taunts her by bringing up a confession that Miyu got, and while Miyu feels guilty about it, doing so helps her realize that Matsuri truly values her.
• Boyish Short Hair: Hina, Youka, Nena, and Matsuri all have this, with Umi having a kind of longer, in-between style.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Nena is far more perceptive than her tired demeanor leads one to believe. Add in an almost Holmes level of inductive reasoning, and she can read most people like a book... until she gets sleepy and decides it's not worth the effort.
• Brutal Honesty:
  • An occasional weapon in Yuna's arsenal as a "Yuri Cupid." She uses it to get Youka to improve her awful initial attempt at lyrics for her love song and on Miki to get her to admit why she allows herself to be an Extreme Doormat. She initially feels guilty about the latter, but it turns out that she was right.
  • Aki can also be brutally honest, such as criticizing Tsukuyo and Kiri's approach to their work over the summer, or shooting down Youka's excuses for her chronic tardiness.
• Cast Full of Gay: A more minor example than most given that the cast covers all of the queer students at an entire school, and the main characters are specifically looking for the students that are gay, but Yuna does comment once or twice that she hadn't realized that there were so many girls who like girls around in just their school.
• Character Tics: Hina raises a "Thumb Up" gesture in assent a lot.
• Chekhov's Gun: Early on in the game, Yuna's attention drifts toward a locked desk drawer in her room. At the end of the game, we learn what's inside- a cooking club trophy she won in middle school.
• Chekhov's Gunman:
  • While not immediately obvious, the voice makes it apparent to anyone playing through the scene again that the concerned teacher talking to Yuna on the very first in-game day is actually Tsukuyo, since unnamed characters don't get voiced lines in the pre-Full Chorus version.
  • Matsuri and Miyu are occasionally brought up as captain and vice-captain of the track team before they're introduced in July.
• Childhood Friends:
  • Yuna and Hina. Their mothers are both friends and nurses at the same hospital; when they both have a night shift, Hina goes to Yuna's house and Yuna cooks dinner for the both of them. Eventually evolves into a Childhood Friend Romance.
  • Also the Broadcasting Club Trio depending on what one counts as "childhood" since they have been friends since the beginning of middle school, at a younger age than any of the other couples were when they met each other.
• Chromosome Casting: Every single character in the visual novel is female, largely because it takes place at an all-girls school.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Despite her recent efforts to remain aloof Yuna finds it very hard not to offer help to anyone that needs it. After she gets involved cooking for the training camp, she notes that a switch has been flipped, and there's no going back.
• Class Trip: The final extra scene has all the second-year students (plus Hina and Seina) discussing the upcoming class trip.
• Cliffhanger: September 22 ends with Hina making a Love Confession to Yuna, and the scene ends before Yuna can respond. The player must then play through the other couples' scenes for that month, as well as a scene with the kindred spirits, before they can see what comes of this event in October.
• Clingy Jealous Girl:
  • Megumi is immediately a little suspicious whenever Yuna seems to be spending too much time with Sachi, which is made a bit more ridiculous by the fact that Yuna and Sachi can't even touch. Though maybe a total lack of any kind of competition for 30 full years had an impact here.
  • Downplayed with Miyu. She never shows hostility toward potential romantic rivals, but Matsuri's popularity with the other girls sometimes makes Miyu feel insecure.
  • A minor case with Sasa, who gets annoyed when Youka suddenly calls Umi by her first name without honorifics, not realizing that she's practicing to do the same with the girl she likes.
• Cluster F-Bomb: Seina combines this with Atomic F-Bomb in her Unstoppable Rage moment, unleashing a profanity-filled tirade on a clique of older students who made fun of Miki.
• The Confidant: Yuna is one for both ghosts, who don't have any other options for who to talk to. She's also one for Nena, who complains to her about how Umi acts after Umi and Sasa start dating since Yuna's the only other person who knows about their relationship.
• Cooldown Hug: Miki calms down Seina's Roaring Rampage of Revenge against the girls who called Miki a masochist by calling her by her given name, the first time anyone has done so at this point, and calmly holding her in her arms and resolving to not take requests from that point on.
• Couldn't Find a Pen: Megumi's main method of communicating with Yuna during class hours is to produce messages only she can see that appear to be written in blood on the chalkboard and in her notebook. She continues doing this even long after the initial shock of it has passed.
• Crazy Enough to Work: Operation Sparkling Sunshine. It involves Tsukuyo-chan seeing Kiri at certain spots where the light will enhance her features. Despite Yuna's initial doubt, it works.
• Crazy-Prepared: When Yuna is recruited to cook for the track team during the summer camp, she asks to examine the cafeteria's cooking equipment and about the team's size and any allergies and medical requirements they may have. This degree of preparedness impresses Matsuri and Miyu, who didn't expect anyone to be so inquisitive about the position and note that she didn't simply accept it without thinking. The drama CD Rain Kick reveals that she continued to cook for the team's summer camp several years after the game ends simply because her cooking was so popular.
• Curse:
  • Megu threatens to curse Yuna if she'd refuse to play cupid, would find lesbians stupid and/or disgusting, would try to steal her equally ghostly girlfriend Sachi, or would tell Sachi what she told Yuna about her relationship with Sachi (Yuna doesn't even need to be coerced to do or not do these things).
  • Yuna threatens to curse Megumi if she would possess her without her permission.
• Cuteness Proximity: Kiri adores cute things, and especially can't help herself around cute, young-looking girls. It's not until a friend makes a joke about her marrying Tsukuyo-chan that she realizes it's not all just a reaction to the cuteness, however.
  • Both of the track team seniors and Yuna's class also get this way around Hina.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Yuna tries her hardest to avoid getting emotionally close to anyone from the start, but slowly begins to grow into the Team Mom of the cast.
• Delayed Reaction: When Yuna and the kindred spirits first encounter each other on the roof, it takes the latter pair a little while to realize that Yuna can see and hear them.
• Delicate and Sickly:
  • Megumi was like this in life, and it killed her in the end, with her parents noting that they didn't expect her to live to the age of 15.
  • Tsukuyo's a downplayed example; she just gets feverish and anemic easily. That said, Megumi feels as though they have common ground in that they're both less than healthy and end up overdoing things.
• Demonic Possession: The ghosts discover that they can possess Yuna and experience what she does. Thankfully they're nice enough to only do this with permission.
• Did You Just Have Sex?: Subverted: In the middle of the summer camp week, Umi and Sasa have their first time and decide to take a walk around the campus the next morning. They pass by Yuna while holding hands and acting more intimate than normal, and break away as soon as they see her. Yuna does not notice any differences in their behavior, until Megumi appears after they leave and explains it to her.
• Dramatic Irony: The morning after Umi and Sasa have Their First Time, they become self-conscious upon seeing Yuna, but in their POV scene, Sasa thinks, "There's no way Toomi would know what we were doing, I guess." The main story reveals that Megumi already spilled the beans to Yuna.
• Dude, She's Like in a Coma: Seina kisses Miki while she's sleeping, but Miki wakes up and realizes what's happened. Once Seina realizes what she did, she's completely horrified, and spends the next few days silently repenting for what she did.
• Eating Lunch Alone: Yuna eats lunch alone on the rooftop since she started high school.
• The Empath: One of Sachi's ghost abilities is being able to detect strong feelings in people, though it's not well-directed so she usually can't tell where the feelings are coming if there are more than two people close together. Naturally, she mainly uses this to figure out which girls are in love with another girl.
• Evolving Title Screen:
  • After finishing the main story, the title screen has a "Let's try a little harder" stamp added to it to inform the viewer that the Extra chapters are now available. After all the chapters are completed, the scene will change to sunset and a stamp is added that says "Very well done."
  • The first time this screen is loaded, the opening quote will always be a different line from Yuna telling Hina she loves her, and the second time it's loaded it will be a new line from Hina telling Yuna she loves her. These will appear at random afterward in place of their original lines.
• Extreme Doormat: If someone makes a request of Aihara Miki, she will fulfill it. One of the reasons she and Maki start getting along so well is that Maki actually tries to look out for her for once. Fortunately, she gradually starts refusing requests, after an incident involving Maki and another third year.
• Failed a Spot Check: In "Rules 3," Miyu(and presumably Matsuri) don't notice that Yuna was around to hear their argument until Hina walks over to go home with Yuna.
• Figure It Out Yourself: Sachi's empath powers tell her exactly why Yuna's so upset that Hina might date someone else, but she knows it's something Yuna would want to figure out and act on for herself.
• First-Name Basis:
  • Shortly after becoming friends with Youka, Aki asks that she call her by her first name, rather than "Ariu-san." Youka has trouble with this at first, until an incident where Aki calls her "Youka," which surprises her enough to throw her off balance and nearly off the stairs. Aki saves her, after which Youka casually thanks her using her first name.
  • During the summer camp, Nena asks Yuna to call her by her first name, to which Yuna responds using "Nena-san." In turn, Nena calls her "Yuna."
  • Yuna's a bit surprised that the prim and proper Aki not only considers Yuna a friend, but switches to calling her by her first name without honorifics.
  • By the time of the drama CDs, Seina starts calling Matsuri and Miyu, two of Miki's friends, by their first names.
• Forgetful Jones: Ano has a bad habit of forgetting her things, from her textbooks to her bra.
• Gayngst:
  • Present, but in a much milder form than usual — the game does identify the feelings that the girls have as being gay, but the main concern is generally whether or not the object of their affections feels the same, rather than worry about being gay altogether. The game also covers some less-dramatic examples of homophobia young lesbians might face, such as Yuna worrying about what her parents and the people around her might think should she start going out with Hina.
  • Averted with Youka, who hadn't even thought about the fact that both she and her love interest were girls before Yuna points it out to her, instead answering her with "but this love is super rock, don't you think?!" and is very open with her relationship as a result. Later on, when she learns about Kiri also dating a woman, she states in her narration that she "doesn't think it's an issue if two ladies go out."
  • Also averted with Aki, who has had feelings for other women since kindergarten, much earlier than any other character, and never had any trouble accepting it.
• Gamer Girl: Ano, Kiri, and Nena.
• Gargle Blaster: Umi gets Sasa and Nena to try out a disgusting soft drink just because it was new and she wanted her friends to try it together with her. It's so bad that Sasa wishes death on whoever made it.
  Umi: You really gotta drink shitty soda with your friends, right?
• Gay Romantic Phase: Averted, and the trope is deconstructed: when Kiri finally confesses to her teacher, the latter informs her that she's probably just confused, that it's totally normal for young women to have strong feelings for one another, and that when she matures and grows into a 'proper' adult, she'll look back and realize that this was all just a big misunderstanding. Naturally, this doesn't make Kiri feel any better.
• Genki Girl: Umi, Megumi and, to a lesser degree, Ano. Matsuri has shades of this as well but usually maintains a bit too much dignity in her role as captain of the track team.
• Girlish Pigtails: Maki and Tsukuyo both have these.
• Good Cop/Bad Cop: Sachi tries to convince Yuna into playing the cupid, Megumi threatens to curse Yuna if she doesn't.
• Hate Sink: The story has No Antagonist, and while most of the cast has various flaws, they're all good people at heart, generally being a Jerk with a Heart of Gold at worst. Miki's "friends," who casually push work onto her and mock her for being a "masochist" when she does what's asked of her, come off as despicable for the entire story, and it's cathartic as well as scary when Seina explodes at them.
• Hidden Buxom: Ano apparently has a pretty impressive bust, but she doesn't look that much bigger than anyone else in her normal clothing.
  • In general the characters' clothing is rather shapeless and several girls turn out to be rather more well-endowed than they appeared once they take it off.
• Hidden Depths: Just about all of the girls are more than they appear at first. Thankfully finding this out tends to only make their partners love them more.
• I Didn't Mean to Turn You On:
  • At one point Umi seriously flusters Sasa by playing with her hair for a while.
  • Averted with Matsuri, who intentionally tries more than once to get Miyu into the mood.
• Imagine Spot: In "Cardinal Symptom: Idiocy," Megumi, after realizing that Youka is in love with another girl, briefly imagines Sachi congratulating her for finding another girl in love.
• The Immodest Orgasm: In general, the couples in this game tend to be very vocal when it comes to expressing sexual pleasure. It's brought up in-universe a few times, with characters commenting on the "noises" they or their respective partners make.
• Immortal Immaturity: Yuna notes that while Megumi is technically at least three decades older than her, she doesn't act that way, hence why Yuna refuses to give Megumi the same respect she'd give to a woman in her forties.
• Inconsistent Dub: A relatively minor case. While the game generally uses Japanese Honorifics in the translated text, sometimes, "-san" is translated as "Miss"- for example, when Ano calls herself "Miss Ano," or Umi suddenly uses honorifics on her friends.
• Innocently Insensitive: Tsukuyo was trying to give Kiri good advice when she told her that being attracted to girls was merely a phase, but what she said ended up hurting Kiri's feelings. Yuna and the kindred spirits end up being angry with Tsukuyo to varying degrees over what she said.
• Insistent Terminology: Sachi insists that Yuna call her and Megumi "kindred spirits."
• I See Dead People:
  • Yuna is the only person able to see and interact with Sachi and Megumi.
  • When Megumi was alive, she faintly saw Sachi.
  • Ano has a sixth sense and is also able to see the ghosts, but only as colored specters.
  • Hina is able to see the ghosts like Yuna can before doing the deed, implied to be because she was holding Yuna's hand.
• Japanese Honorifics:
  • After Maki agrees to Aihara's request to start as friends, Aihara seals the deal by switching from calling her "Maki-san" to "Maki-chan," much to Maki's delight. Somewhat unusually, she uses the "-chan" honorific with Maki's surname. Similarly, Kiri starts calling Yuna "Toomi-chan" during the summer camp.
  • Megumi is somewhat offended by Yuna addressing her by her first name without honorifics (despite the fact that she does the same with Yuna), leading to a debate as to which girl is the other's sempai. Megumi uses "-chan" on the first-years Hina and Seina, as well as Tsukuyo, but uses "-san" on everyone else.
  • Sachi uses honorifics on most characters, but uses yobisute on Megumi.
  • Yuna finds it a bit strange that some people use "-chan" on Sonou's name, but attributes it to her youthful appearance and friendly personality.
  • Yuna's a bit surprised that Youka would use the extremely formal "-sama" honorific on the girl she has a crush on. Youka eventually switches to "Ariu-san" and then "Aki," though.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
  • Megumi is rude, a little selfish, and spends most of the time insulting Yuna in some way, but she does take joy in helping girls get together, and once you read some of her POV chapters it's clear that she really does like and appreciate Yuna.
  • Sasa has a sharp tongue and keeps people at arm's length, but genuinely cares for her friends.
• Last-Name Basis:
  • Yuna refers to most characters besides Sachi, Megumi and Hina(and later, Youka and Nena) by their surnames with appropriate honorifics.
  • Nobody ever refers to Ano Fuji by anything other than her surname, not even her friends like Yuna, Kiri and Nena.
  • Everyone refers to Maki Seina as "Maki-san"(or "Maki-chan" in Miki's case after they become friends) until Miki calls her "Seina" for the first time to calm her down as she shouts at the photography club girls. As noted above, combined with her Cooldown Hug this signifies a significant Relationship Upgrade for them. She and Hina initially call each other "Komano-san" and "Maki-san," but switch to "Hina-chan" and "Seina-chan" after they become friends in the extra chapters. Similarly, Seina also gets onto a first name basis with Miki's friends Matsuri and Miyu.
• Last-Second Word Swap: In an extra scene, Kiri is about to call Youka "stupid" but switches to "brash" instead just before the last syllable.
  Youka: (thinking) It kinda hurts more when you correct yourself like that.
• Left the Background Music On: At one point, Umi hums the "Fu~ Fu~ Ha-a-a~" in the BGM playing at the time.
• Like an Old Married Couple: Matsuri and Miyu bicker a lot, and it's usually playful, until Matsuri ends up pushing her luck too far at night in the training camp, resulting in a feud between them.
• Linear Visual Novel: While you are able to make small choices that affect a brief amount of dialogue now and then, and can jump around among the different couples in any order you want, it's impossible to make any actual changes to the plot. However, making all available choices is necessary to unlock all of the Extra chapters.
• Love Epiphany: Hina gets one after Matsuri and Miyu confess to being in a relationship. The idea that two girls can be in love with each other causes her to connect the dots in her head and realize what exactly the weird feeling she's been having around a certain girl are.
• Love Makes You Dumb: In "Cardinal Symptom: Idiocy," Megumi observes how Youka is acting less intelligently than usual because of her crush on Aki, and compares it to how Megumi herself acted when she had a crush on Sachi.
• Love Revelation Epiphany: Umi only realizes her own love after feeling happy at her friend Sasa's confession.
• Loving a Shadow: Sachi's secret. The cheerful personality and Yamato Nadeshiko nature that Megumi loves and Yuna knows are a lie; her true self is far more cowardly and timid. Subverted when Megumi makes it clear she loves Sachi regardless, and Sachi realizes that she has changed, even if it's not completely.
• Magic Realism: Why are there a couple of ghosts hanging around at this school? Who cares when there are lesbian couples to set up together!
• Making Love in All the Wrong Places: All of the couples end up doing something sexual at school at some point. Youka and Aki probably win the prize by making love above the main entrance, immediately after getting a warning for their kiss at Youka's concert. This ends up being to the ghosts' benefit, as they need to be able to watch the couples having sex(they can't leave the school or go anywhere they didn't set foot in while they were alive), and Yuna and Hina have to have sex in a place where Sachi and Megumi can possess them.
• The Matchmaker: Megumi and Sachi enlist Yuna to help in their matchmaking. Nena also does a bit of it herself when it comes to Umi and Sasa.
• Mistaken for Suicidal: The ghosts mistake Yuna's unusual-looking candy for an attempt to commit suicide by poison.
• Motor Mouth: Umi, Megumi, and sometimes Kiri. Megumi in particular tends to verbalize any thought that flits across her mind, no matter how bad it sounds. At one point Sachi theorizes that this is Megumi's way of reminding herself not to actually act on her worst impulses.
• Nice Girl:
  • For all of her Extreme Doormat tendencies, Miki is a rather nice person. She's considerate of Maki's feelings, forgives her for stealing a kiss while she was asleep and doesn't even take it personally when Yuna questions why she's so accommodating to others.
  • Sachi's kindhearted and polite to others, and more consistently gets along with Yuna than Megumi does.
  • Umi is the nicest member of the broadcast trio, in comparison to the more aloof Sasa and Nena. While a bit overzealous, Umi genuinely cares about her friends.
• No Antagonist: There are no villainous characters or even romantic rivals, and most of the characters have to struggle against their own weaknesses.
• No Periods, Period: Averted in a late Extra chapter in which Kiri has a period heavy enough to send her to the nurse's office. Naturally, Tsukuyo goes to comfort her until she dozes off.
• Non-Uniform Uniform: The dress code at this school is very lax: apart from the fact that students seem to be able to wear whatever color of jumper they want, there's also Hina, who always walks around in her track club uniform, and Youka, who wears her school shirt open to reveal a band t-shirt underneath. The only constant seems to be the color-coded skirts (bar Hina, who joined the track team partially so she would never have to wear a skirt).
• Numerical Theme Naming: The broadcasting club trio only became friends in the first place because Umi realized that they have the kanji for one, two, and three in their surnames. (Ichiki Umi, Futano Sasa, and Miyama Nena.) Though Sasa does point out that in her name the kanji is read as 'pair' rather than 'two,' and that this is a pretty ridiculous reason to befriend two people in the first place.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Nena seems to be obsessed with sleeping and, therefore, ignorant of her surroundings. In fact, her desire to identify good times to go to sleep makes her perhaps one of the most observant characters in the whole cast, able to pick up on other people's feelings and single out their flaws far quicker than most.
• Odd Couple:
  • Youka, an aspiring rocker, and Aki, a disciplinary committee member. Noted In-Universe by their peers.
  • While Matsuri and Miyu have a common interest in the track team, they're practically polar opposites in other areas, being opposing halves of Technician Versus Performer and Red Oni, Blue Oni.
• Older Than They Look: Tsukuyo Sonou is a 25(later 26)-year-old teacher, but looks younger than her students.
• Old School Building:
  • Actually a plot point. Part of the school was rebuilt after Sachi died, so she can't enter the newer building unless she's possessing Yuna, and since only third years have classes in the old building, Megumi can't enter the old building since she never did so in life.
  • The school was built on the site of an old castle, and several of the surviving structures — such as the room above the entrance gate, and one of the old watchtowers — are still in use by the school.
• Once More, with Clarity: A good number of Main story chapters that concern a Couple storyline get a more complete appraisal from that couple's perspective in their own corresponding chapter. They won't be available until all the Main chapters for an arc are completed.
• One-Gender School: The game takes place at an all-girls school, hence why none of the students have boyfriends and why the kindred spirits are so interested in yuri couples.
• One Head Taller: Miki and Maki, Kiri and Tsukuyo, Yuna and Hina.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Nena's usually sleepy and seemingly apathetic, but when Umi contemplates ending her relationship with Sasa because she thinks she's neglecting her friendship with Nena, something that Sasa reluctantly goes along with, Nena confronts them directly with a level of anger that neither of them had ever seen from her before.
  • Maki is normally a sweet and friendly girl, which makes it all the more shocking when she explodes at a group of third years making fun of Miki.
  • The normally reliable and outwardly cool Yuna starts spacing out and appearing distressed to everyone who knows her after Hina confesses to her, since she's too busy either agonizing over what her response should be or throwing herself into something else in order to avoid thinking about it.
• Otaku Surrogate: Ano, who likes video games and yuri.
• Out of Focus:
  • Once a couple's romantic plotline is resolved, they are rarely seen again during the rest of the story. This is especially egregious with Umi and Sasa, whose first time occurs halfway through the novel's runtime, and then have very little, if any, presence afterward until the Extra chapters are open.
  • Ano, Seina and Miki don't take part in any summer activities at the school(although Miki is seen tending to the gardens in an extra scene), so they don't show up at all during the month of August, at a time when Youka and Aki, as well as Matsuri and Miyu get focus, and the game starts to hint at Yuna's feelings for Hina.
• Pair the Spares: Averted with Ano and Nena. Neither of them finds a lover over the course of the story.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse:
  • Seina is the youngest child in a family of construction workers, so she is much stronger than she looks as one of the shorter characters.
  • Hina as well, who is the same size as Seina and can leap two stories and outrun and restrain the much taller Kiri. Kiri herself describes Hina as "Hercutelean."
• Poltergeist: Sachi is able to rattle objects and make noise. She does this to attract Seina's attention to the couch in the disused storage room.
• Promoted to Playable: The Extra chapters unlock after getting to the credits. These include chapters from the perspectives of Ano and Hina, which we never see in the main story.
• Pun: Both the English and Japanese titles. The English title is obviously a play on how 'spirit' is another term for ghost, while two people who are close are often described as 'kindred spirits.' In Japanese, the word used is 'yurirei,' which is a combination of the word 'yuri' and the Japanese word for ghost, 'yuurei.'
• Queer Romance: The main focus of the game is on girls who are in love with other girls.
• Randomized Title Screen: The title screen shows all of the characters, and at random one of them will announce the title and say something unique, usually something about yuri, or a Catchphrase or other line that sums up their personality.
• Really Fond of Sleeping: Nena. To the point of hilarity; all the girls around her are making so much noise worrying about their feelings for each other and she just wishes they'd sort it all out so she could get some peace and quiet.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni:
  • Megumi and Sachi, respectively. Megumi's a bit of a Genki Girl with a jealous streak, while Sachi is calm, composed and mature.
  • Matsuri, who loves skinship and often does things on a whim, is the red oni to the calm and methodical Miyu's blue oni.
  • The brash and energetic Youka is the red oni to the calm and disciplined Aki's blue oni.
• The Reliable One:
  • A lot of characters comment on how competently and smoothly Yuna runs things, especially as cook for the summer camp.
  • Miki is something of a deconstruction of this. She is someone lots of students and teachers rely on to fix things but this is due to her own self-worth issues and is causing her to be badly overworked with no free time.
• Rewatch Bonus: Many of Ano's scenes come off differently if you play them a second time while knowing that she knows about Sachi and Megumi.
• Riddle for the Ages: At no point is it explained why Yuna and only Yuna can see and hear Sachi and Megumi. Ano can see the kindred spirits as light, and Hina gains the ability to see and hear them as clearly as Yuna can just before they pass on, but that isn't explained, either.
• Sailor Fuku: While the school currently uses vaguely blazer-style uniforms, Sachi, who died 80 years ago, wears a black sailor fuku with a gray neckerchief, while Megumi, who died 30 years ago, wears a white sailor fuku with a black neckerchief.
• School Festival: The main event for the month of September is the school festival. It's relatively humble compared to other high schools, but Youka is set to perform in it, and Matsuri and Miyu have Hina go out with each of them at the festival.
• Second Love:
  • Tsukuyo was confessed to by a classmate and ended up with a fever as a result, only for the classmate to play off the confession as a joke by the time Tsukuyo recovered, making Tsukuyo sick again. Tsukuyo isn't sure how to feel about the person, but eventually falls in love with Kiri.
  • Sachi's second love is Megumi, and her first love was a classmate of hers from when she was alive 80 years ago. The latter didn't see the former as anything more than an acquaintance, but she admired the girl so much she modeled herself after her. The trope is discussed when she feels guilty about telling the girl she currently loves about the girl she used to love.
• Secret Relationship: Most of the couples, but more prominent between Matsuri and Miyu due to Miyu's family being strictly traditional. Kiri also feels the need to keep her relationship with Tsukuyo secret due to the taboo nature of Teacher/Student Romance, and while she tells Youka about having a girlfriend, she doesn't reveal the girlfriend's identity.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: Ano realizes that Yuna's being haunted by the school's ghosts from the get-go, she just kept it under wraps until she thought Yuna wanted to talk about it.
  • A number of the couples have reasons to keep their relationship secret but, due to her work with the ghosts, Yuna knows about them all. She tells no-one, including the couples themselves, unless and until they confide in her themselves.
  • Nena realizes that Sasa is in love with Umi and that later on, Umi reciprocates the feeling, but keeps that knowledge to herself for a while until she goes to Yuna, and later, Umi and Sasa tell her about being in a relationship.
  • A few of the secondary characters realize that their friends or acquaintances are in love with other women, but don't openly let on that they know.
• Shaped Like Itself: In an extra chapter, Maki remarks to Aki that the disciplinary committee is the sort that disciplines people.
• Shipper on Deck: Zig Zagged. The ghosts are rooting for all the lesbian couples across the school but aren't actually able to influence anything directly or express their support. Instead, they use Yuna as their agent in helping push the girls together, although, Yuna is ambivalent about if the girls get together or not.
  • Played straighter with Nena who ships Umi and Sasa but mainly because she believes once they get together she'll be able to sleep in peace without their Unresolved Sexual Tension getting in the way.
• Shout-Out:
  • When Seina is looking for a chance to deliver her love letter to Miki, and is determined not to run away this time, she thinks, "Are you there, God? It's me, Seina."
  • Ano once tells Yuna, "Don't call me Shirley."
  • After Megumi smugly notes that ghosts don't have to take exams, Yuna thinks, "I get it, Casper."
  • Ano, Nena, and Kiri all play that hunting game on a portable system.
  • When escaping from other students in an extra scene, Ano roleplays a certain tactical espionage expert whilst hiding in a locker.
  • When a nervous Ano decides to go into her classroom, she declares, "Panzer vor!"
• Significant Name Shift: Seina Maki and Miki Aihara change how they address each other at significant milestones in their relationship. At the start of the game, they call each other "Aihara-senpai" and "Maki-san," but after Seina gives Miki a love letter and they agree to start off as friends, Miki calls Seina "Maki-chan." After Miki forgives Seina for kissing her while she's asleep, Miki asks Seina to call her by her first name, and Seina accepts, calling her "Miki-san" from this point forward. When Seina attacks some third-years who were badmouthing Miki, Miki gets her to stop by calling her "Seina" for the first time, and they become a couple soon afterward.
• Single-Target Sexuality: Most of the girls don't really discuss their sexuality at all beyond being attracted to their love interest. It would be faster to just point out the girls who explicitly identify as lesbians: Kiri, Aki, and probably Matsuri.
• Sitting on the Roof: The roof of the Hoshikan building is deserted most of the time due to being out of the way for most students. Due to this, antisocial Yuna spends lunchtime here alone. She continues to spend lunchtime here after Sachi and Megumi passed on to remember them by.
• Sleepy Head: Nena is almost constantly sleepy, and often is on the verge of nodding off, regardless of whether it's a good time or place.
• Stern Teacher: Tsukuyo admired a Shirojo teacher who was very strict but good at her job, and sought to emulate her.
• Stupid Sexy Friend: Many of the girls have this moment where they suddenly begin to see someone they thought of as a friend in a whole new light, causing this phenomenon. In this case, they all get over it and learn to accept their feelings for one another and what that means for their friendship.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • As sweet as Youka's love confession song to and kiss with Aki are, she gets in trouble for a public display of affection at a school event, and while she got off with a warning, it is implied during her POV scene, "A Rockin' Relationship," that she was at risk of getting a worse punishment had Tsukuyo and Aki not spoken up for her. Yuna is not surprised that something like this happened.
  • Matsuri and Miyu's relationship prove that two people with almost completely opposite personalities who are in a romantic relationship will inevitably fight due to their different outlooks on life and temperaments. That said, the story also makes clear that Matsuri and Miyu can balance out each other's shortcomings by virtue of their differences. In short, it takes work for a relationship to stay healthy.
  • Most of the couples in the game consist of two virgins and most of them didn't even realize they were interested in girls. As such their attempts to have sex are, while generally very sweet and romantic, also rather awkward simply because they have no idea what to do.
• Switching P.O.V.: While Yuna is the primary protagonist, every single named character gets at least one POV scene, although Ano and Hina don't get their turn until the extra scenes. The extra scene "Charm" is unique in that it has an omniscient narrator and shows multiple characters' thoughts.
• Sympathetic P.O.V.: In many of Miyu's POV scenes, Matsuri comes off as thoughtless and insensitive to her concerns about what might happen if their Secret Relationship becomes public knowledge, while in Matsuri's POV scenes, Miyu comes off as cold and uptight. Interestingly enough, their festival dates with Hina are shown from the perspective of the kindred spirit who took the other side in the debate; Megumi, who took Matsuri's side, watches Miyu, while Sachi, who took Miyu's side, watches Matsuri.
• Take a Third Option: Hina's answer when somebody asks who she likes better between her track club senpais. She declares it a draw, explains to them that she's noticed that they really like each other, and asks why they're fighting, helping them end their feud.
• The Talk: A variant. Matsuri and Miyu give Yuna and Hina some information about lesbian sex, much to Yuna's embarrassment and Hina's bewildered interest.
• Teacher/Student Romance: Kiri and Tsukuyo. The story goes into the taboo aspect of the relationship, and Tsukuyo sometimes angsts about what she's getting herself into, but doesn't call it off. Unlike most examples, while Tsukuyo is advisor for the math club, she doesn't teach any of Kiri's classes, since Tsukuyo is a literature teacher and Kiri is on the math and science track.
• Team Mom: Miyu is the Team Mom of the track team. Yuna is the Team Mom for the whole cast.
  Ano: I love you, Mama Yuna!
  Hina: I love you, Mama Yuna-nee!
  Yuna: I...I'm not your mama!
• Technician vs. Performer: Miyu as the Technician, Matsuri as the Performer. Miyu studies running techniques to perfection, but still falls behind Matsuri, who adopts a Don't Think, Feel outlook on running. When the two take Hina to the festival, Miyu goes first and makes a plan to take Hina to everything she enjoys, while Matsuri wings it.
• Technologically Blind Elders: Justified with Sachi, who died over 80 years before the story starts, and is naturally confused by a lot of modern technology.
• Their First Time: The kindred spirits make it their mission to have as many couples as possible have their first times, and learn from their experiences. In an extra chapter, Megumi tells Yuna that one of her classmates taught her how important getting one's first time right is.
• Theme Naming:
  • Yuna and Hina's mothers, good friends and neighbors, gave their daughters similar names. As revealed in one of the extra scenes, this was not sentiment. They figured there'd be a lot of hand-me-down toys and clothes so similar names meant they only needed to change one character on the nametags.
  • Part of The Broadcasting Club Trio's names can be read as "One," "Two"(although Sasa insists that the "Fu" means "pair") and "Three." While this wasn't deliberate (their parents are in no way connected), it was what initially caused Umi to decide they should all be friends.
• Third-Person Person:
  • In the Japanese audio, Megumi refers to herself in the third person.
  • Ano sometimes calls herself "Miss Ano" ("Ano-san" in Japanese) to sound cutesy.
  • In a variation, Tsukuyo sometimes refers to herself as "Sensei" to remind her students that she's a teacher.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Hina is a cool and athletic Big Eater while Yuna is a Supreme Chef Team Mom.
• Too Much Information: Yuna's reaction to some of the kindred spirits' reports. Also, due to their experience, Matsuri and Miyu's love advice comes across like this on two separate occasions.
• Totally Radical: As Megumi died during the 80s, she occasionally engages in this; the translators did note that they tried not to go too overboard with it, though.
• Two-Teacher School: Besides Tsukuyo, the only teacher we ever see is an unnamed vice-principal(who lacks a sprite or voiced dialogue), although a handful of others are occasionally mentioned.
• Undisclosed Funds: The math club is stated to have a budget, albeit a small one, so it can't do anything too ambitious, but can recruit members.
• Umbrella of Togetherness: On a rainy day in June, Umi is forced to share an umbrella with Sasa when going home. Megumi is rather annoyed when she has to explain the trope to Yuna.
• Unfinished Business: Sachi and Megumi want to experience their "first time" together before they move on to the afterlife.
• Unstoppable Rage: Maki goes nuclear when she finds three older classmates making fun of her beloved senpai. Her rage is to the point that she makes the older student, whom she lifts by the collar, cry, Yuna becomes frightened by her, and her voice contorts to become a hateful contralto.
• Uptight Loves Wild: Miyu for Matsuri and Aki for Youka, though what each is uptight or wild about is different; Matsuri is something of an exhibitionist and Miyu wants to keep their relationship under wraps(although Miyu later realizes that Matsuri's spontaneity often is refreshing) while Aki is a stickler for punctuality and Youka is a slacker.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Yuna and Megumi may rib each other, but their chapters (Megumi's in particular) make it clear they really do value their friendship.
• Wham Episode: September 22 not only resolves the conflict between Matsuri and Miyu, but begins the romantic plotline between Yuna and Hina, when the former confesses to the latter.
• Wham Line:
  • In June, Yuna enlists Ano to distract Nena so Umi and Sasa can go home under an Umbrella of Togetherness. She succeeds, and after Umi and Sasa leave, Nena makes the following statement.
    Nena: Sheesh~ They finally left~ They're finally alone together~ Hopefully Sasa can make her move this time.
  • Yuna worrying about whether Hina would end up going out with Matsuri or Miyu, only for Hina to confess to her.
    Hina: I gave them a real answer.
    Yuna: ...Y-You did...
    Hina: Um, Yuna-nee, I... I realized... That I... I love you, Yuna-nee. If I have to have a girlfriend, I want it to be you. I love you, Yuna-nee.
  • Later, Yuna wants to confide to someone about the above, only for them to assume she's confiding about the last thing that she would expect anyone to know about:
    Ano: Is it about those ghosts up on the roof at school?
  • At the end of Drama CD 4, a character makes a surprise return.
    Megumi: Hm? ...Oh? ...Ah! Sachi-saaaaan! Over here! This way!
• When It All Began: The calendar goes from April to November, but the first chapter available is in May. The earliest event is an Extra chapter on April 4th, in which Hina notices changes in Yuna's behavior and resolves to help her with whatever problem caused it, which included enrolling in the same school as her. In the short term, this is part of what convinces Yuna to assist the kindred spirits, and eventually, it leads to them starting their relationship. It is the second to last chapter that can be unlocked overall.
• When She Smiles: Hina is always cute but usually has rather muted expressions. When she's really happy though she flashes a big grin that just lights up her face, something several other characters remark on.
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: A variation. On the day that Yuna and Hina help Sachi and Miyu have Their First Time at the end of the game, Yuna briefly crosses paths with each of the other couples and thinks about how far they've come.
• Willing Channeler:
  • Sachi and Megumi discover that by being in contact with Yuna, they are able to possess her and sense everything she senses. Their main use of this power is to taste food for the first time in decades by having Yuna eat and drink various things.
  • They also learn that they can possess others, to the point that they take over their bodies entirely. They do this only once: Yuna and Hina agree to allow them to use their bodies and have their first time, and then Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence afterward.
• Yuri Fan: Sachi and Megumi, of course, particularly Sachi. Ano is also a fan of yuri storylines, though she has no interest in getting into one herself.
• Yuri Genre: Naturally.

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