Anime / Charlotte

Left to right: Yuu Otosaka, Joujirou Takajou, Yusa Nishimori, and Nao Tomori.^note Not pictured: any character named Charlotte.

From when I was little, I had a question in my mind.
"Why am I myself, and not someone else?"

—Yuu Otosaka

Very few adolescent boys and girls have an onset of special abilities. Yuu Otosaka is one such boy who uses his ability to possess other people for five seconds unbeknownst to others in order to lead a satisfying teenage boy's life: revenge against those who pissed him off, sneaking peeks at girl's bodies, cheating his way into a prestigious high school, and targeting a school idol as his girlfriend.

Then one day, a mysterious girl from another high school named Nao Tomori suddenly appears before him and ruins all of his comfortable life in his new high school by exposing his cheating tendencies.

In order to ensure he does not abuse his power again, she arranges for him and his little sister Ayumi to be transferred to Hoshinoumi Academy, a school for those with special abilities, that ultimately ends his chance with the girl who became his target due to their inability to maintain a long distance relationship.

Becoming a part of Hoshinoumi Academy student council along with Nao and her friend Joujirou, these three reveal the destiny for wielders of special abilities, and trying to keep them responsible and not abusing their powers like Yuu did before.

Charlotte is an original Seinen anime written by Jun Maeda, created by Key and animated by P. A. Works, all of whom are from Angel Beats! tenure. It can be viewed here on Crunchyroll for people in North America, Central America, South America, United Kingdom, and Ireland. Aniplex USA has acquired this anime's license and it was announced with an English dub, making Charlotte the first Key/Visual Arts anime title to get a dub from Bang Zoom! Entertainment.

A Yonkoma manga, titled Charlotte The 4-koma: Seishun o Kakenukero!, first appeared in May 2015 in Dengeki G's Comic magazine. A manga adaptation of the original anime itself began appearing in September 2015, also in Dengeki G's Comic magazine.

Now has a Characters Page in need of additional information. Not to be confused with the animated film of the same name.

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This show contains examples of:

• Absurdly Powerful Student Council: Nao mentions that the student council has special privileges which allow them to skip classes and not get penalized for it, since they often have to go off-campus to find people with special powers. Justified in that they are carrying out the school's true purpose.
• Alternate Timeline: Episode 9 reveals the series takes place in one. Episode 10 then further reveals Shunsuke has done this numerous times.
• All Up to You: Subverted in episode 11. Due to extensive Black Mail, Yuu is tasked with stopping the rogue ability user group by himself with Shunsuke's group nearby to assist if needed. Unfortunately one of their members attacks him to prevent him from using his abilities properly. Though he nominally stops them after unconsciously triggering the "collapse" ability, Kumagami, one of the hostages, is killed shielding Nao from the falling debris. Shunsuke's group was also unfortunately unable to assist as Yuu used that ability rather quickly due to being stabbed by the girl attacking him, and they were wondering why he hadn't used the time-leap ability yet.
• All Your Powers Combined: Given enough time and exposure to ability users, Yu could become this. It is hinted in universe that this would not be a good thing as it would make him extremely dangerous, maybe Drunk with Power (justified fear since he was petty in the use of his powers), and make him that much more noticeable to scientists. Potential limits or restrictions to his 'plunder' ability are not yet explained.
  • Yuu decides to willingly pull this off on a world-wide scale, so that way no one else will have special abilities, thusly saving all ability wielders.
• Amusing Injuries:
  • Joujirou's head bleeds quite a bit in episode 2 after he crashes into the cafeteria's large windows while using his power to buy some sandwiches.
  • Done again in Episode 3, with Joujirou banging his head on the wall until it sprays a small fountain of blood.
  • Joujirou is kicked out the window by Nao in episode 6 after the group decides not to take him to visit Ayumi. He later claims these sorts of things happen to him all the time.
• And I Must Scream: Yuu starts to show signs in this in episode 13 as he searches for ability users worldwide. He forgets what his mission was and why he was doing it, until he sees Nao's little translation notebook. Though he forgets about her, deep down he remembers it being very important, and it helps him to just barely finish his mission and return to her.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: In Episode 3, Shou tearfully confesses to Misa that he was in love with her and blames himself for her death. Misa tells him he doesn't have to feel guilty and encourages him to move on with his life.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Ayumi to Yuu, who often pesters him with questions.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Nao delivers one to Yuu in episode 7 after he starts losing it after Ayumi's death and almost does drugs.
  Nao: The decision I made back then was not appropriate. Maybe I should have quarantined Ayumi to a safe location. That's why I decided that I'll stick it out with you, until you've risen back to normal.
  Yuu: That's none of your business! You took my valuable prey-
  Nao: Do you want to be crippled for life? Do you want to stop being human?
  Yuu: (speechless) Then... what are you saying I should do?
• Arrow Catch: Joujirou does this in episode 2 after their latest target accidentally releases an arrow at Nao. He misses the first attempt with his right hand, but barely manages to grab the arrow on the second with his left hand.
• Artistic License – History: In opening narration, not only did René Descartes not live in ancient times, but in the 17th century, but Yuu uses his famous sentence cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am) in a completely different context than the former did. ^note Descartes was making note that if thought existed, a source of said thought had to exist as well, and therefore somebody/something existed. Whether they were himself or somebody/something else, was largely irrelevant to that paragraph of his essay.
• Aside Glance: Yuu is the main offender, he first does this in episode 3, telling the audience information everyone knows, which Nao immediately lampshades.
• Asshole Victim: Subverted in episode 7. Though Yuu fights guys who look like stereotypical thugs, in almost all of those fights, he was the one who initiated it. Either because he was disrespecting them, such as when he kicked his used skewers at their feet for taking too long playing a shooting game he wanted to play, or in later fights, simply because It Amused Me.
• As You Know: In the first episode, after Yuu's little sister Ayumi mentions having feeling that there used to be an additional member of the family- who turns out to be their older brother- Yuu reminds her that they've been living on their own since their mother abandoned them, with their uncle supporting them but not living with them.
• Awesome, but Impractical: Yuu and the others who have special powers, though each of them has some kind of drawback:
  • Yuu can transfer his soul to another person and do whatever he wants, but only for five seconds, and his body is left unconscious during that time. There seems to be no limit to how often he can do this however. His true ability is "Plunder", allowing him to steal the abilities of other people with powers. In order to utilize this power, he has to be able to see their face.
  • Nao can make herself invisible, but only to one person at a time. Everyone else can see what she's doing. However, considering that she often has to conceal herself from marks, this seemingly useless ability ends up being well-suited to her needs.
  • Joujirou has Super-Speed, which he calls teleportation. Unfortunately he can't slow himself down, so he ends up crashing into stuff repeatedly and has to wear safety equipment underneath his uniform.
  • Yusa has the ability to be possessed by her older sister Misa. However, she doesn't have control over it. Misa on the other hand, has pyrokinesis without a drawback being given during her introduction.
  • Kumagami can pinpoint the location of someone with special powers and what special powers this person has. Unfortunately he can only do it while soaking wet and fully clothed. Episode 10, however, seems to hint that his soaking-wet appearance is just to hide his identity.
  • Ayumi has the ability to cause a collapse of an area, but she doesn't seem to have conscious control of its effects and she needs to be under extremely high mental duress to access it. Her power activating at the wrong moment kills her in one timeline.
  • Yuu's older brother has the ability to leap through time. Despite that, he must have light enter both of his eyes in order to use it and it makes him slightly lose his sight with every use. He lets Yu plunder his power after going blind, and Yu himself loses the power forever after suffering an Eye Scream.
• Bad Future: Episode 9 has one in which Yuu, Ayumi, their brother Shunsuke, and countless others have been captured and are being researched by the scientists. After Yuu breaks out Shunsuke, he uses his time-leap powers to jump back to the past, presumably to Set Right What Once Went Wrong.
• Baseball Episode: Episode 4 has one with Hoshinoumi's baseball team playing against another team that has a special in it. The game is played with the wager that if Nao's team wins, the pitcher stops using his abilities to cheat. But if the opposing team wins, they would leave him alone to do what he wants.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted in episode 11, after some rogue ability wielders kidnap Nao and Kumagami. Kumagami is subjected to Cold-Blooded Torture, including pulling his fingernails and losing some of his teeth, and Nao is hanging in her underwear with her hands tied, along with some bruises throughout her body. Additionally, she sustained a rather hard punch while attempting to defend herself in her room.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Yuu and Nao haven't stopped fighting ever since they first met, yet there are times when Yuu thinks Nao is cute. Lampshaded by Yusa and Joujirou who think that they would make a good couple, and later Ayumi also joins in shipping them. Yuu finally confesses his love in Episode 12.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • Shunsuke, who even lost his eyesight and ability to save everyone. His friends that helped him each timeline fit to this trope as well. In the final episode, Shunsuke shows up with a helicopter as Yuu is about to get killed.
  • Done repeatedly by Yuu in episode 13 as he searches for ability users worldwide. He ends up protecting many of them from getting exploited or attacked before stealing their powers to prevent further exploitation.
• Big Bad: The scientists
• Bittersweet Ending: Yuu managed to absorb and strip the powers of all the ability users in the world, saving them in the process from any persecution or experimentation, but the burden of doing this cost him his memories, even his memories of Nao. He still has vague memories of the translation booklet Nao gave him though, so all is not lost. Nao herself resolved to live their lives fully from now on and to make new memories with Yuu and her friends.
• Bland-Name Product:
  • The opening has one in the form of Shooting Star Coffee, which is an obvious way of getting around Starbucks Coffee's trademark.
  • Episode 12 has "Rocky" chocolate biscuits stick, and "Panaquick" battery.
• Blessed with Suck: Some children in this world are born with superpowers, but they often come with crippling drawbacks, and getting found out gives them a good chance of being captured and experimented on like a guinea pig. And those powers eventually fade away anyway once they grow past adolescence.
  • The final ability wielder's power is "courage". Its only effect is making the user courageous, regardless of the dangerous situation they're in.
• Blind Musician: Sala Shane, ZHIEND's lead vocalist.
• Blue with Shock:
  • Yusa when she first sees Kumagami soaking wet enter the student council room.
  • Also when Nao kicks Joujirou out of the student council room window... on the fifth floor.
• Break the Haughty: In the first episode, Yuu's body-hijacking ability gets him as far as a high-end high school and the start of a relationship with a dream girl before Nao and the Student Council catch up with him. Needless to say, they make him humble.
• Breather Episode:
  • Episode 8, compared to the Wham Episodes of Episodes 6, 7 and 9.
  • Episode 12, sandwiched between a series of blow-by-blow revelations of the three previous episodes (especially 11), and the mostly action-packed episode 13.
• Bullet Dodges You: Used several times by Yuu in episode 13 while searching for ability users worldwide.
• Camping Episode: Episode 5, in which Hoshinoumi's student council goes on a camping trip in the mountains to look for a guy with the ability to fly.
• Casual Danger Dialogue:
  • In episode 2, after Joujirou crashes into some large windows in the cafeteria, Yu notices he's bleeding quite a bit in areas not protected by a suit under his uniform, such as his head. Joujirou doesn't seem to think it's such a big deal, even as blood squirts from his head.
  • He does it again in episode 3, this time while attempting to grab some curry. Yu once again is freaked out by the blood on his head.
  • During episode 13, Yuu has some casual thoughts while mobsters are shooting at him. However, his forcefield protects him. And later when attacked by a man with a crossbow, he seems uninterested in it while getting shot.
• Cerebus Roller Coaster: This show's all over the place with this.
  • For the first five episodes, it's mostly lighthearted, though with a few hints at something sinister going on behind the scenes. It's usually just about finding a different superhuman each week and convincing them to not abuse their powers.
  • The show takes a pretty dark turn in episode 6 and 7, where one of Ayumi's classmates tries to murder her, which triggers Ayumi's "Collapse" ability, which kills Ayumi as the school collapses on top of her. This hits Yu hard, and he ends up nearly becoming a drug addict if it wasn't for Nao's intervention.
  • After that, things seem to be fine, and even gets a Hope Spot in episode 10, as Yu's real ability, called plunder, is to steal the abilities of others; he was able to acquire the ability to time travel to go back and save Ayumi from her fate.
  • Then it all goes straight to hell again: in episode 11, a rogue group of international ability wielders kidnap Kumagami and Nao in order to Black Mail Shunsuke and Yu. Kumagami's tortured, and dies after protecting Nao from the collapsed warehouse that Yu unfortunately brought down.
  • The show ultimately ends on a bittersweet note, as Yu is able to successfully plunder all of the ability wielders around the world so that they can avoid being exploited, but this came at the cost of his sanity and his memories, including why he was even doing it in the first place. He only kept going becuase of a vague recollection to do so, thanks to Nao's study notes. Shunsuke rescues him and brings him back to Japan, but since Yu's lost all of his memories, he doesn't know who anyone is anymore, but Nao vows to make new memories with him and everyone else instead.
• Cheaters Never Prosper: See Break the Haughty. It's later made apparent that many ability-users abuse their powers to get ahead, and that the Student Council doesn't intervene so much to enforce fairness as to save them from the consequences.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • A box full of instant ramen cup which Yuu's uncle left for him on episode 1. It helps Yuu survive a few days after Ayumi's death when no one cooks meals for him.
  • In Episode 5, the group finds a pit near their campsite, and realize it's potential hazard. Nao uses that pit to trick their target into revealing his powers of Flight.
  • Nao gives Yuu a set of flashcards in episode 12 to help him on his mission to search for ability users worldwide. Once he starts losing his memories due to gaining tens of thousands of new powers, he forgets why he has the cards. But something inside him causes him to remember his mission to strip every power away, even if he can't recall why he's doing it, and for whom.
• Cheerful Child: Ayumi, who seems to be perpetually happy.
• Cliffhanger: Episode 6 ends on one, where Ayumi activates her "collapse" superpower unknowingly which destroys her school and leaves her and likely a bunch of other students buried under the rubble.
• Contrived Coincidence: Who does Yuu run into right after Nao gives him a ticket to a ZHIEND concert? Well, ZHIEND's lead vocalist Sala Shane, of course! The episode is even titled "A Chance Encounter".
• Cordon Bleugh Chef: Ayumi's rice omelette doesn't seem too tasty to Yu when he tries it out, but he forces himself to eat it anyway. This is mostly due to Ayumi getting the wrong idea and thinking Yu likes pizza sauce, so she puts it in everything, including curry.
• Costume-Test Montage: In episode 9, Yuu tries on several different costumes in front of the mirror when he's getting ready to go to a concert with Nao.
• Crazy-Prepared: Nao in episode 5. She prepares a pitfall out of an old well camouflaged with leaves and branches to lure the boy with flying ability to use his power when he accidentally jumps into said pitfall.
• Cute, but Cacophonic: Ayumi's voice (especially when she's happy) is a bit... ear-piercing.
• Curbstomp Battle: Pretty much every fight that Yu gets into in Episode 7, due to his power.
• Damsel in Distress: Nao in episode 11 after being kidnapped by some rogue ability wielders.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Nao. She (and her brother) were sold by his mother to a scientist that wanted to experiment on them because of her brother's revealed ability. They are separated shortly after they arrive, and after she's finally able to meet him one year later, her brother doesn't recognize her at all because he has become an Empty Shell after the experiments, while she found herself surrounded by fake friends prepared by the scientist to distance her from her brother.
• De-power: The true application of Yuu's ability is to permanently do this to other ability users. This also naturally happens to ability users once they reach adulthood.
• Dead Man Writing: Misa writes a farewell letter for Yusa in episode 12, delivered by Joujiou after Yuu plunders all of their ability, including Yusa's "chanelling", which means that she will never able to meet Misa again.
• Disappeared Dad: While it's revealed that Yu and Ayumi's mother divorced and left them in the care of their uncle, there is no mention of what happened to their father.
• Dogged Nice Guy: Oikawa to Ayumi.
• Down to the Last Play: The baseball game in Episode 4 is decided in the last inning.
• The Dreaded: Yuu becomes this in episode 13 while on his mission to steal every ability user's powers from around the world to prevent them from being exploited.
• Drugs Are Bad: The moral of the story in episode 7. Although Nao spends most of the episode accompanying Yuu invisibly when he falls into a spiral of self-destruction, and only watches as he viciously beats up punks on the street while abusing his power, she finally intervenes only when he tries to use the drugs he picked up from one of the thugs, while telling him he will no longer be human if he goes through with it.
• Drum Bathing: In Episode 5, Yusa is forced to take a bath outdoors in an oil drum while on a camping trip.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Yusa Nishimori appeared as an Idol Singer on television from episode 1. She is introduced as one of the main characters in episode 3.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Yuu's formidable task of finding every ability user in the world in episode 13 really takes a heavy toll on his sanity. Fortunately Nao's notes become a Chekhov's Gun for him, and it helps him to carry out his mission even after he forgets why he was searching for ability users and even who gave him the notes in the first place.
• Eating Lunch Alone: Nao in episode 2, and it is hinted she's been doing this since before the start of the series. Joujirou explains that her invisibility power causes other students not to want to be near her because she can basically do anything (including inflicting violence) without the "victim" knowing what she did to them.
• Everyone Can See It: Both Yusa and Joujirou think that Nao and Yu would make a cute couple, although Joujirou admits that they haven't known each other long enough for anything to happen. Eventually, Ayumi hops on board with it.
• Evil Laugh:
  • Played for Laughs, Yuu does this in the first episode after he is asked to hang out with the School Idol girl he's targeted as a girlfriend, only to realize that his laughing was too loud inside his classroom.
  • Played Straight in episode 7, after Yuu beat a bunch of thugs thanks to him abusing his ability, he starts to laugh maniacally under the showering rain.
• Evolving Credits: The end credits for each episode feature stills of the character that featured most prominently in that episode. Episodes 2 and 5 have Nao with song from Aoi Tada, while Episodes 3 and 4 have Yusa with her "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune song from Maaya Uchida, credited as How-Low Hello. Episode 6, being a Wham Episode, has nothing but a Credits Roll with black background and acoustic music.
• Exact Words: Nao says that if Yu will just eat one bite of his food, then she promises they'll never have anything to do with each other ever again. After Yu finishes eating, he points out this promise, which is when Nao tells him he didn't eat one bite, but rather the entire thing.
• Exhausted Eye Bags: Yuu has some near the end of episode 7 after he starts going around picking fights with strangers mostly because It Amused Me.
• Expy: Nearly half of the main characters.
  • Yuu is expy to both Lelouch vi Britannia from Code Geass (both use powers that light up their eyes to manipulate others and have a little sister whom they love very much) and to Light Yagami from Death Note (both have the same evil grin, same way of laughing and both are considered as humble Bishounen in their respective series).
  • Just like Yuu who has similarities to a certain Code Geass character, Nao has her own in Leila Malcal. Both resemble each other in terms of appearance and for being a leader of their respective groups.
  • Joujiro is basically Takamatsu from Angel Beats!. They share similar looks, similar ripped body, similar personality, and the same voice actor.
  • Another Angel Beats! comparison; Sala Shane has the same voice actress, both singing and speaking as Masami Iwasawa, she even has an accident happen to her earlier in her life, however unlike how Iwasawa's ultimately lead to her death, Sala only lost her eyesight.
• Eye Scream:
  • Yuu nearly does this to a thug in episode 7 who attempted to "teach him a lesson" when they hear about how he picked a fight with someone they know. He holds the wooden skewer rather close to the man's eye, and the camera focuses on that scene for a few moments.
  • In episode 11, karma struck Yuu hard. His eye is slashed by an ability wielder, preventing him from time leaping.
• Face Death with Dignity: In Episode 12, Misa decides that now is the proper time to head out and tells Yuu to Plunder her and Yusa's ability, which will leave her permanently dead. She goes out calmly and quietly without complaint.
• Fake-Out Opening: The first episode is written in such a way (even going so far as to seemingly give detailed introductions to characters who will otherwise never appear again), giving the impression that the series would be some kind of lighthearted romantic comedy about Yuu using his special power to cheat his way around an idyllic highschool life. It's only towards the end that he transfers to the show's real setting and meets the rest of the real cast.
• Fan Disservice: In episode 11, the audience able to see Nao only in her lingerie... hanged unconsciously, in a beaten state.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: Ayu's dream about "breaking, cracking, and splitting ground" comes the day before her "collapse" ability activates and seemingly leaves her buried beneath the rubble of her own school building.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Ayumi's pizza sauce running out in Episode 5 foreshadows the "running out" of humorous times as by the end of Episode 6, things have gotten much more serious.
  • Yuu's true ability, "Plunder" can be considered foreshadowed in Episode 5, where Yu possesses the person with the ability to fly and is almost instantaneously able to grasp how to use it in a five second window.
  • When Ayumi starts coughing during the phonecall with Yuu, lot's of viewers sensed that there was something going wrong.
  • Ayumi's interest in stars + the opening + the title of the anime.
  • During the baseball game, the main characters note that the catcher on the team is quite skilled. It turns out that Arifumi wants to use his powers to help said catcher go pro.
• For Science!:
  • Nao reveals to Yu in episode 2 that people with special abilities like them get experimented on heavily if they're found out by some scientists before her group can get to them. She then reveals that her brother was subjected to such experiments, and turned into a shell of his former self as a result.
  • In episode 4, Nao tells Yu to possess the pitcher on the opposing team after they already lost the game. He doesn't see the point, but she tells him it's for an experiment. When he comes to, she's holding him up with her arms, but doesn't explain what she was doing. The reason behind this is revealed in episode 10. Nao told him to do that to steal his ability, ensuring the pitcher would never be able to abuse his ability again in the future.
• A Friend in Need: In episode 7, Yusa and Joujirou visits a mentally unstable Yuu after he loses Ayumi to give him some food to eat together, but he refuses it. It is revealed on the same episode, Nao uses her invisibility powers to watch over Yuu for weeks after Ayumi's death. She does not interfere until he threatens his own health with drugs, and she then proceeds to finally bring him out of his Heroic BSoD.
• From Bad to Worse: At the end of episode 5, Ayumi comes down with a bit of a cold. She does recover, and feels good enough to go back to school despite Yu's insistence on keeping her home. Ayumi gets attacked by her Yandere classmate, which triggers Ayumi's ability of collapse, which destroys the school and gets herself killed. This sends Yu into a Heroic BSoD, isolating himself from his friends, abusing his powers on random thugs just because he can, and nearly becoming a drug addict, at least until Nao stops him.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: Going through the OP frame by frame reveals certain words in English and snippets of hiragana and kanji... including a Title Drop as seen here.
• Funny Background Event: Not too far off in the background, but in Episode 5 when Joujirou is having his glad-to-be-alive spiel as he's alone with Yusarin, Yusa can be seen slowly edging away.
• Gamer Chick: Misa. As shown in episode 5 when she immediately switches with Yusa just as she was surrounded by enemies in the game. Misa slaughters them all.
• Gilligan Cut: When Nao asks Yuu if he's going to eat his sandwich or not, the next scene shows her eating the sandwich instead of Yuu.
• Go Through Me: A little girl does this for Yuu in episode 13 after he's hit with some crossbow bolts by a man. She turns out to be the last ability user with the power of courage. And even after Yuu strips her ability, she still maintains her stance, albeit with shaking legs.
• Gratuitous English:
  • One of the bad guys in episode 11 speaks in fairly decent English. He then has another man translate what he just said for the main characters.
  • Nao gives Yuu a bunch of English flash cards to help him on his international journey in episode 13, and at first he has to use English to communicate with people. Yuu's voice actor completely butchers the pronunciation, which is justified in-universe for a Japanese teenager who's bad at English; what comes across as implausible is how the English-speakers he talks to are able to understand his English without subtitles! This whole problem is dispensed with when he steals an ability that makes people percieve whatever he says in Japanese as if it were in their language and vice-versa, so that from then onward all foreign diaglogue is represented as Yuu hears it: in Japanese.
• Gray Rain of Depression: Latter half of episode 6 themed with cloudy sky, foreshadowing Ayumi's death in the end of episode, and in The Stinger scene, it finally raining. Averted in the new timeline where Yuu able to saves Ayumi as seen in the end of episode 10. The sky is still cloudy as the original episode 6 timeline, but it's not raining.
• Headbutt Thermometer: Yu checks his sister's temperature this way in Episode 5.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • Played for Laughs when Joujirou meets Yusa, who turns from cutesy girl to badass trash talker with her special power. He reacts by smashing his head into the wall which causes a small fountain of blood to spray out from his head.
  • Played for Drama when Yuu frantically searches for Ayumi in the middle of her school building's rubble. And after he's told she died, he suffers one for the entirety of Episode 7, attempting to run away and pick fights with strangers.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: The two men who seem to be the ones in charge of the rogue ability users suffer this fate in episode 11, after the girl who was seen with them attacks Yuu, causing him to use the "collapse" ability, and causing them to get stuck in the debris after the building collapses around them. Though they seem to be alive, they're also not going anywhere anytime soon either.
• Human Pincushion:
  • Yuu stabs a guy in the leg with a wooden skewer in Episode 7 after he manages to fight off the man and his two friends. He then stabs the man again with a second one, and says he'll kill them the next time they try to pick a fight with him.
  • Yuu suffers this after getting hit with some crossbow bolts in episode 13. This after stopping lots of bullets being shot at him earlier on.
• Idiot Ball:
  • It's not a wise decision to suddenly startle a nervous person who's aimed his arrow at your face at point blank. If it hadn't been for Joujirou, Nao would already be dead.
  • In episode 11, Yuu gets attacked by an ability wielder. He just stares at her and lets her cut his eye, which also disables his time-leap ability. Seriously, Yuu?
  • In episode 11, instead of using his telekinesis to intimidate the syndicate into letting Nao and Kumagami go, or using his possession/plunder ability to have them knock each other off the ledge, thus leaving them vulnerable, Yuu only takes over their bodies to INSPECT THEM FOR WEAPONS. It can't even be argued that he was worried about others being in the abandoned area, as he notes earlier in this same scene that they seem to be the only ones there.
  • Yuu then decides to telekinetically throw objects at the pair of terrorists who he'd already determined to pose no direct threat, turning his back on the ability-wielding girl who is clearly carrying a weapon that just left him half-blind. She ends up driving him into a rage and "collapsing" the building, fatally injuring Kumagami.
  • The reason Yuu got in this mess in the first place was because Shunsuke willfully glanced over the fact that their organization's driver had a family, giving enemies ample opportunity to blackmail him and make him kidnap one the organization's most important members.
  • Backing up even further, there's yet another problem. Why does someone as important as Kumagami ever leave the underground base? He could have just called the school every time he detected an ability-user. Instead, he physically goes there, with no bodyguard, to do his completely unnecessary water-dripping ritual, providing many opportunities for someone to capture him.
  • Going a bit further, there's a simple solution that's never even attempted. Why doesn't Yuu go back to the time Kumagami leaves and say, "Dude, seriously, stay and let's play another game, or you'll get captured, tortured, and killed."?
    • The episode eventually handwaves this by stating that the syndicate somehow knew all about everyone's powers long in advance and had carefully prepared so many long-term plans and checkins from years in the past so that any sudden disruption would cause them to realise time had altered and murder the hostages. However, the logical thing to do would still have been to try it before going straight to "let's walk into the obvious trap". It also makes the entire syndicate plotline feel like even more of an Ass Pull, since if they had such a massive amount of information about every wielder and years worth of setup, why did they even need to torture Kumagami? And how were they instantly defeated one episode later by two people's minds being wiped with no further consequences?
• In a Single Bound: The student Nao and the others find in Episode 5 is capable of jumping really high in the air. He also seems to be capable of slowing his fall, though when Yu takes over his body he still lands rather hard on the ground.
• Incurable Cough of Death: Ayumi starts to do this in Episode 5, first over the phone while talking to Yu during their stakeout camping trip. Later when he's back home a few days later, she starts coughing again, and also mentions that she ran out of her pizza sauce.
  • Double subverted, however, as while it turns out that her cough was merely a one-day cold, it does, in a very roundabout way, lead to her death. Yuu thinks she's still safe at home, but Ayumi, feeling all better, has decided to sneak out to school, where her yandere classmate's threatening her with a knife causes her to panic and accidentally trigger her special ability, Collapse. This kills her.
• Iron Butt Monkey: Because of his imperfect ability, Joujirou is prone to any kind of Amusing Injuries, but so far none of said injuries have done serious harm to him.
• Ironic Echo: When Yuu threatens to stab the thug in the eye in episode 7, he remarks that that could result in a lame nickname like "Ol' One-Eye". Come episode 13, having suffered his own eye injury, he finds everyone referring to him as the One-Eyed Reaper.
• It's All My Fault: Mixed with I Let Gwen Stacy Die, Sho considers Misa's death to be his fault since he got off with just a few wounds. Misa tries not to blame him, as she said she was a thrill seeker and got what she deserved. She tells him to move on with his life so as not to be dragged down by guilt.
• Karma Houdini: Konishi never seems to face any consequences for trying to kill Ayumi and indirectly succeeding when Ayumi's "collapse" ability kicks in, until Episode 10.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Yuu attempts to stab one of the thug's right eye with wooden skewer as part of his intimidation to him in episode 7. In the new timeline in episode 11, his own right eye got slashed by one of the terrorists, also an ability wielder, with a knife.
• The Last Dance: Yuu has others take up this mindset, especially after the events of Episode 11. He tells Misa (and then uses Yusa in order to help her) to go see her parents one last time before Yusa's ability goes away, as that is the equivalent of 'death' for her.
• Like an Old Married Couple: Discussed between Yusa and Joujirou about Yu and Nao.
• Look Behind You: Done to Joujirou in Episode 6 to prevent him from tagging along with Yusa while they visit a sick Ayumi. Nao claims there's a sleeping giraffe outside, prompting him to go look. When he starts wondering why a giraffe would be at their school, she then knocks him out the window, then calls an ambulance for him.
• Loophole Abuse: In Episode 4's baseball game, Joujirou barely manages to bunt the ball. The opposing team thinks it's an easy out, only for him to use his Super-Speed, and crash into a hill far away. However, the umpire didn't see him touch the base, and Joujirou's distance from first base is a bit excessive. Nao shows the umpire video footage that Joujirou did indeed touch the base. Though a bit confused at what just happened, he calls the play safe.^note In baseball, if the batter can make it to first base before the baseball is thrown and caught by the first baseman on the opposing team, he can run or slide past it and still be safe.
• Love Confession: Yuu gives Nao one in episode 12, but she doesn't reciprocate, and in fact has a skeptical and confused look on her face. She does do The Promise with him though, in that she'll be waiting for him after he returns from his worldwide mission to plunder every ability and prevent them from being exploited.
• Made of Iron:
  • Joujirou can go through windows and into walls at near-mach speeds and come out with little more than scratches. The body armor that he wears is just icing on the cake.
  • Nao brushes off a punch to the face and being beaten by a mob with little more than an "ouch".
• Major Injury Underreaction: Nao seems to brush off the somewhat brutal beatdown she gets from some girls in Episode 5. When Yu approaches her, she seems more interested in the fact that they have another student to find.
• Make Up or Break Up: Happens to Yu and Yumi at the end of the first episode. He is forced to transfer to Hoshinoumi Academy, which is really far away from her school. He is also unable to visit her without supervision, and she's unwilling to constantly visit him lest she seem like a stalker. As a result, she feels it's best to cut their losses there, though he doesn't take it too well, and has the same shocked look on his face after going home.
• Manly Tears: Yuu. Multiple times. He's not the only one. But hey, we're talking about a Key anime, what did you expect?
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Yusa's fans love the way she casts magical spells, but it's not clear whether they actually work or are just for show.
• Mood Whiplash:
  • Episode 2, where Yuu and Nao visit Nao's brother on the outskirts of town. The moment was entirely funny when Nao, being a Big Eater, rudely ate her lunch box (which is still smoking hot) inside an air conditioned train, pissing off the passengers standing near her, and after she sees Yuu hasn't eaten his sandwich, the scene cuts to the two of them waiting for the bus, while Nao eats his sandwich. When they are riding the bus a few minutes later, the whole situation becomes more gloomy as Nao tells him about her and her brother's backstory.
  • Episode 6, in a broader sense, turns out to be mood whiplash for the entire series. It goes from the usual beginnings of each episode, turns funny with some Ship Tease between Nao and Yu, and then ends with Ayumi's "collapse" power triggering as she's about to get attacked by a Yandere, with Yu frantically running into the collapsed section, the episode ending with debris about to fall onto him. To make it worse, The Stinger reveals blood flowing among the debris. The entire second half of Episode 6 turns this series from a somewhat flat and repetitive storyline with jokes and gags everywhere into a potentially tragic drama.
  • Happens in Episode 7, albeit very briefly. Joujirou and Yusa come to hopefully break Yu out of his rut, but when Yu decides not to answer them, Misa gets pissed and drops the cream stew Yusa cooked. Joujirou does his usual fanboying, but it's only for a second and the show quickly returns to its dramatic mood.
  • Episode 11 is a huge one after episode 10's seemingly happy ending. Kumagami is tortured to reveal information. Yuu also suffers a severe Eye Scream attack, and is stabbed in the shoulder, causing him extreme stress, and triggering the "collapse" ability. Kumagami then is killed attempting to shield Nao from falling debris.
• More Dakka: Used a few times in episode 13, though fortunately Yuu's forcefield protects him.
• Morton's Fork: One is seen in episode 11. Some rogue ability users from overseas wants Yuu, kidnap Nao and Kumagami in order to get him to come to where they are alone. They also specifically warn Shunsuke that if there's any deviations due to someone doing a time-leap back in time, they would kill some hostages they had on them.
• Mundane Made Awesome: The characters' approach to food.
• Mundane Utility:
  • In Episode 2, Joujirou uses his ability to buy some sandwiches without having to wait in line in the cafeteria. Unfortunately with this method the sandwiches he grabs are random due to not having time to pick, and the resultant shock wave of his passage overturns every table in the vincinity◊. On top of that Yu mentions all the sandwiches are squashed as well.
  • Done again in Episode 5, though Misa's not too happy with being used as a lighter.
• Muscles Are Meaningful: According to Joujirou, the protector does not enough to protect his body from the side effects of his power, so he must shape his body to be ripped enough to withstand, or at least minimalize the damage.
• The Namesake: "Charlotte" is never mentioned by any of the characters until at least episode 11, when it becomes the title of the episode. It's revealed in that episode, "Charlotte" is the name of a long-orbit comet which approaches Earth in 75-year cycles. When it does, unknown particle are showered into Earth, and who inhaled its particle will somewhat generate special ability. One of the closest encounter is said roughly around 400 years ago, where many people in Europe who inhaled the particle and generates special ability were hunted down as witches.
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: Yuu finds out more about his ability to take over people's bodies briefly once his brother and Nao mention to him what it actually does. It allows him to steal ability-users powers. It gets used extensively in episode 13, when he starts traveling around the world to take their powers and save them from being further exploited. He also conveniently gains abilities that then help him to search for others more easily, such as being able to see where ability users are simply by looking at a map. Or having various languages around the world translate automatically into Japanese for him, thus avoiding his need to learn new ones.
• New Transfer Student:
  • Yu and his younger sister Ayu both get transferred to Hoshinoumi Academy by the end of the first episode, so that Nao can keep tabs on him.
  • Yusa transfers to the same school in Episode 4, much to the joy of her classmates.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Yuu tells Ayumi to stay in bed for several days in Episode 6 while she is sick. However, by the third day she is feeling better, but since Nao wants more confirmation, he tells her to stay home again. However, she doesn't listen, and sneaks out to go to school anyway. She then gets assaulted by one of her classmates who was jealous that the boy she liked was now focusing all of his attention on Ayumi. The Stinger at the end of the episode hints that some debris caused by Ayumi's Traumatic Superpower Awakening may have fallen on top of Yuu while he was frantically digging through the rubble in an attempt to find her.
• Nice Mean And In Between: Ayumi's three friends. Nomura is the Nice, being a pleasant and friendly girl who's good friends with Ayu. Konishi is the Mean, since she's a {{Yandere}] who attempts to harm Ayumi with a boxcutter. Oikawa is the In-Between, as he seems decent enough, but is more of a Dogged Nice Guy to Ayumi than the genuine article.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown:
  • Nao delivers one to Yuu in episode 1, thanks to her ability.
  • Later in Episode 5, Nao receives one from a group of pissed off girl students.
• Nose Bleed: Ayumi has one in Episode 3 after Yu mentions Yusa is transferring to his school. And she does it again in Episode 4 after hearing more about it. Then when Yusa visits her while she's sick, she does it twice.
• No-Sell: After a guard uses a rocket launcher on Yuu, he disappears in the ensuing explosion. However, the smile on the guard's faces quickly disappear when they find him unharmed.
• Not a Date: Yuu and Nao go to a ZHIEND concert together in episode 9. It's not supposed to be a real date, but they end up acting like they are in one until Yuu passes out and remembers the original timeline.
• Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught: He got away with it for quite a while, but Yu eventually falls under the suspicion of cheating. To make matters worse for him, Nao has him on camera cheating. The pitcher in Episode 4 attempts this as well, but their team ends up losing to Nao's team.
• An Offer You Can't Refuse: Yuu is told to transfer to Hoshinoumi Academy, or else his cheating would be exposed. In fact, this is Nao's primary way of dealing with children with powers. She usually either blackmails or intimidates gifted children into either stopping the use of their powers for self gain or enrolling in Hoshinoumi Academy. She later reveals that she does this because she wants to prevent them from being discovered as an ability user, and then kidnapped and researched on by unscrupulous people and organizations.
• Paper-Thin Disguise:
  • Yuu uses Groucho glasses when sneaking into a cram school to research his rivals for the high school entrance exam in Episode 1.
  • Yusa uses sunglasses and a flu mask as part of her disguise when visiting a sick Ayumi in Episode 6. She wasn't fooled.
  • In episode 10 while infiltrating Ayumi's school, Yusa and Nao attempt to wear the girl's middle school uniform, while Joujirou attempts to disguise himself as a teacher. Nobody there is fooled, as Joujirou isn't recognized by one of the real teachers there and dragged to the faculty office, while one of the boys there immediately recognizes Yusa. Another student comments that Nao is very pretty, and sort of suspicious for being seen with Yusa. Yuu really wants to do a Face Palm while hiding in a storage locker at how easily they were caught.
• Parental Abandonment: Yu and Ayumi's mother divorced their father, then shoved them to their uncle's care. As a result he doesn't think too highly of her.
• Perfect Health: Subverted. A lot of viewers thought Ayumi was deathflagging when she was sent home from school with a cold. It's actually a perfectly normal, nonlethal cold. She was deathflagging, but she dies from something completely unrelated.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Ayumi has the "collapse" ability. Said ability can be considered the most dangerous of any ability revealed before it, because she can literally collapse a building in an instant when she feels threatened.
• Phrase Catcher: Joujirou will fanboy over Yusa, and someone (usually Nao) will call it a turn-off.
• Picky Eater: During the camp-out in Episode 5, Yu is the only one who cares about eating enough vegetables, while the others are fixated on the barbecue meat. His Heroic BSoD jarringly subverts this, as he eats nothing but cup ramen, pizza, and dango.
• Playing with Fire: Misa.
• Plot Hole: In episode 10, Yuu organises his friends to save Ayumi from being sliced up like a box except that he has no way to know about this because he never learned anything about how Ayumi died in the first timeline. For all he knew, she just set it off by accident, or by tripping and falling.
• Power Parasite: It is ultimately revealed in episode 9 that this is Yu's real power, and that possessing/controlling someone for 5 seconds is just the most noticeable, albeit very handy side-effect. It was foreshadowed he could do this in episode 5 upon taking over the target of the week who had levitation powers.
• Power at a Price: As of episode 9, it is implied that some ability users will have to pay a price for extreme abuse of their powers, and impacting the world too heavily. Sala nearly outright states it, while Shunsuke's price deteriorate his eyesight and seals his ability once he goes blind.
• Pretty Boy: Yuu Otosaka. He's considered as a handsome and cool guy by many of girls on the series.
• Puberty Superpower: There are some special children that manifest superpowers upon reaching puberty. However, their abilities are flawed and they disappear once the teenagers reach adulthood.
• Punched Across the Room: Nao is subjected to this in episode 11, when some rogue ability users attack her in her apartment at night. She is hit rather hard, and is knocked out by said punch.
• Punny Name: Kumagami's nickname: Pooh. Shunsuke called him "Pooh", named after the fictional bear created by A. A. Milne "Winnie-the Pooh". It's like that because 'Kuma' means bear.
• Real-Place Background: One scene in episode 13 takes place in the Philippines. For instance, the "Walking Street" arch is actually found in Balibago, Angeles City, in the province of Pampanga. Another scene from the same episode is listed as "A city in the United Kingdom", but Big Ben is clearly visible through Yuu's hotel window.
• Relationship Upgrade: Yuu goes through two:
  • He starts dating Yumi in the first episode, but she breaks it off with him after he's forced to transfer schools and would be unable to visit her.
  • He enters one with Nao in episode 13 after he fulfills The Promise made to her to strip every ability user's powers and return to her. Though he forgets about it, she's happy that he kept her flashcards, as battered as they were.
• Required Secondary Powers:
  • Generally Defied. A majority of ability users have limitations on how they can use their powers, either because of scope (Nao can only become invisible to one person at a time) or control (Joujirou can 'teleport' using psychic self-propulsion but can't control the amount of force behind it), and does not have any degree of super-reflexes or invincibility, so often gets Amusing Injuries.
  • This is played straight with Yu. His ability to possess people for five seconds is just secondary since his real power is to steal any other person's ability.
• La Résistance: Hoshinoumi Student Council, lead by Nao, is basically a simple version of this. Their main goal is to saves many of the ability wielder from scientists' reach by stopping them from using their power for their own benefit. It's revealed that their action is inspired by Yuu's older brother Shunsuke along with Kumagami that forms a group of ability wielder in many previous timeline to help them survives against the scientists.
• Rescue Romance: Invoked. Yu uses his powers to set up a car accident and save Yumi, the most popular girl at his school, to get her to fall for him. It works, but the arrival of Nao and Joujirou and his forced transfer to their school ruins it for him. Later used in a more emotional sense when Nao saves Yuu from his downward spiral after Ayumi's death, making him fall in love with her even in a different timeline when the death is averted.
• Rouge Angles of Satin: In the subtitles on Crunchyroll, some characters say that they "reap what (they've) sewn." Since the phrase refers to sowing seeds, "sown" is the correct word for the context.
• Rule of Symbolism: The Otosaka family's pizza sauce is the object of many a running gag. It runs out in the fifth episode.
• Running Gag:
  • Joujirou's habit of getting limited foods in the cafeteria, and the Amusing Injuries he often has on him afterwards.
  • Any time Joujirou, or any male fan of Yusa, goes into fanboy mode. If Nao is within earshot, she will comment at what a disgusting turn off that is.
• Sanity Slippage: Happens to Yuu after Ayumi's death. For the first few days after her death, he spends his life watching TV and eating the ramen cups his uncle left for him. The next few days, he goes to an internet cafe and spends the whole day inside the booth, eating junk food. After that, he becomes addicted to an arcade game, beats other guys, and finally almost starts doing drugs. Thankfully, Nao is able to slap some sanity back to him.
• Scary Shiny Glasses: When Joujirou gets ready for his final attempt to capture Yuu in Episode 1, his glasses becomes this.
• Scenery Porn: This is a Key/Visual Arts and P. A. Works production, so you'd better believe that there are a lot of detailed locations in the show.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Used twice in episode 10:
  • Shunsuke gives an Info Dump to Yuu as to what he's done with his powers. He goes back in time, and attempts to save ability users, but is repeatedly thwarted by the organization studying them. He then uses his knowledge of future events such as lottery numbers to gain large sums of cash to open up schools to protect them with, with Nao being at one such school.
  • After Yuu is told more about his power by Shunsuke, he uses his power to obtain his brother's time leap abilities in order to go back to a few days before Ayumi's death, and prevent it from happening in the first place.
• Shipper on Deck:
  • Mishima for her friend Yumi and Yu. After he's invited for some pancakes, she pretends to suddenly have to go home so the two can spend time alone together.
  • Later followed up with Yusa for Yu and Nao.
  • And then Ayumi joins in on shipping Yu and Nao.
• Show, Don't Tell: Yu, Nao, and Joujirou's powers are all shown in the first episode, then given a brief explanation as to their usage as well as the drawbacks.
  • Yu's power is shown when he uses it on people for his own advantage, such as having girls peek at their underwear, or making bullies fight amongst their friends, or cheating by looking at other people's tests.
  • Joujirou's power is first shown when something crashes into a building as Yu attempts to run away from school after being accused of cheating.
  • Nao disappears in front of Yu, then he suddenly starts getting beat up by thin air. However Joujirou says he saw her beating him up, as her power only works on one person at a time.
• Shout-Out:
  • Yuu references the philosopher René Descartes in the first few minutes of the first episode when he contemplates his ability.
    Yuu: I heard that "I think, therefore I am" ^note cogito ergo sum are the words of an ancient philosopher.
  • Nao refers to Ichiro when she sees Misa running to the first base in Episode 4.
  • During Episode 5, Misa snatches a game console from Joujirou and immediately belts out a string of ORA ORA ORAs.
  • Yuu watches a bit of Angel Beats! in a manga cafe in Episode 7.
  • The Angel Beats! cast makes lots of cameos in the background as well! As seen in the arcade, there's a poster of Girls Dead Monster on the wall and on the gaming screen we see T.K. and Matsushita.
  • Also, when Yuu listens to ZHIEND for the first time, the scene, colors and his reaction are extremely similar to Iwasawa Masami hers when she listened to Sad Machine for the first time.
  • Dango play a big role in Episode 7. One of Key's and Jun Maeda's most famous works had the "Big Dango Family".
• Shopping Montage: A heartwarming moment for Yuu and Nao when they're shopping for their barbecue material in episode 5. Nao insists on just buying meat, while Yuu tells her to buy more vegetables. Cue Ship Tease comment by Yusa and Joujirou.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Yusa, the sweet Idol Singer and Misa, her tough and harsh older sister that usually possesses her body.
• Sick Episode: Ayumi in episode 6.
• Sliding Down The Slippery Slope: Yuu, in Episode 7. Fortunately Nao is there to break him out of it.
• Speak in Unison: Episode 6 has two examples: First is Ayumi and Yusa when they're saying that the porridge with stewed mushroom is delicious. Second is Yuu and Nao always denying they are dating.
• Spoiler Opening: Subtle, but it's there.
  • The opening puts a lot of focus on Nao. She's Yuu's Love Interest.
  • The lyrics talk about the world's collapse, loneliness, loss, moving forward, bearing the role of a god, becoming a monster, and coming back home. Shunsuke comes from a Bad Future. Both the Otosakas and Nao are alone, in that Yuu and Ayumi were left behind by their brother, while Nao's own brother was Driven to Madness. Ayumi is killed by her ability, driving Yuu to grief. Nao saves Yuu from his grief, letting him move past her death. Yuu's ability is plunder, and he decides that he'll strip all ability holders of their powers. After stealing many abilities, he breaks down mentally and becomes a monster whose only purpose is to steal them from others. He comes back home in the end, but loses his memories from the stress of his task.
• Sound-Effect Bleep: Misa, in Episode 5. Mixed with Symbol Swearing if the subtitles are on.
• Stealth Insult: Done by Nao in Episode 6 towards Yuu as a reply to Ayumi's Ship Tease opinion.
  Ayumi: Come now... Ayu thinks that you two are totally a great couple.
  Nao: (sarcastically) No, no... attractive and intelligent boys like this chump is someone I can never be a match for, ha ha.
• The Stinger: Episode 6 has one, with Kumagami standing over blood soaked debris in the rain.
• Strictly Formula: The first half of the show always follows the story of the efforts of main protagonists trying to find and stop other kids with special abilities from showing off their power for their personal benefits with no or little development for the main story, and a few Running Gag jokes like Ayumi and her passion for pizza sauce, Misa and Yusa's different personalities, and so on. However, this is totally discarded after Episode 6.
• Stylistic Suck: Yusa's music video.
• Superpowerful Genetics: Siblings are likely to develop superpowers. Such as Nao and her brother, Yusa and Misa and Yuu, Ayumi and Shun.
• Superpower Lottery: Some abilities like Tomori's are relatively weak. Others like Takajou's have brutal side effects that makes using them impractical. However, there are certain characters with very powerful abilities with effects that greatly outweigh the cost.
  • Yuu's ability allows him to control someone for up to five seconds, but leaves his body exposed while doing so. However, he can use it as many times as he wants and at the start of the series, he exploits it to cheat on tests and get into a good school. This is merely a side effect of his true ability, plunder, which allows him to permanently steal the abilities of other ability wielders.
  • Shunsuke has Mental Time Travel, which comes at the cost degrading his eyesight every use and seals itself once he goes blind. The series's beginning is actually the result of Shunsuke's multiple time leaps.
  • In general, those with the ability to locate other ability wielders. Kumagami's ability identifies both the location and the ability of the individual, but activates at random times. Another character with a similar ability that Yuu plunders can track other ability wielders in real-time, but lacks the ability-identification aspect.
  • In-universe, the members of Shunsuke's Syndicate are treated as such, and each member is stated to have a very powerful ability. However, aside from Shun and Kumagami, only Maedomari stands out. He can wipe individual memories and his only downside is needing time to locate it.
• Superpower Russian Roulette: Certain abilities are activated automatically, but some of them are downright devastating, either to the wielder or to those around them.
  • Ayumi gets hit hard. Case in point, her ability "collapse" is incredibly dangerous and destructive. Not only that, but it's triggered by her emotions and she can't turn it off. It ends up killing her and after Yuu plunders it, causes him to accidentally kill Kumagami.
  • After Yuu plunders telepathy, it fills his head with voices and he can't sleep unless he takes pills.
• Super-Speed: Joujirou is capable of doing this. Unfortunately he can't stop on a whim, so he often crashes into things as a result, such as buildings.
• Take a Third Option:
  • Yu is offered this after he's exposed for using his powers to cheat on tests. Seeing as it was pretty much An Offer You Can't Refuse, he doesn't have much choice but to accept Nao's invitation.
  • Yusa is given this option as well in Episode 3 after she accidentally takes her producer's smartphone home with her and reads a text on it regarding some illegal activities. Simply returning the phone or taking it to the police would spell trouble for her, so Nao decides to Blackmail the producer instead to keep him from threatening her with some flashy displays of force. And like Yu, she's offered some sanctuary at their school afterwards.
• Tempting Fate: When Yuu asks Ayumi if it would be freaky if her Five-Second Foreshadowing dream comes true, she replies that she doesn't believe in such spiritual stories. Later, her own spiritual ability awakens while she is trying to protect herself, making the dream a reality after all.
• The Promise: In Episode 12, Yuu confesses to Nao, and the two of them promise that after Yuu saves every single ability wielder in the world, the two of them will become lovers. Although, for the more experienced viewers, this seems to be a bad sign.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: In episode 13, after none of their bullets hit Yuu during one of his missions, one of the guards brings out a rocket launcher. Unfortunately for them, that doesn't work either.
• Third-Person Person: Ayumi tends to do this, calling herself "Ayu".
• Title Drop: Revealed in Episode 11 - "Charlotte" is a comet that showers the Earth with particles on its passing every few hundred years. Said particles awaken hidden capabilities on certain humans.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: In a single person, sort of. Yusa usually gets possessed by the spirit of her deceased older sister Misa. While Yusa is a cutesy and sweet Idol Singer, Misa is a brash and violent trash talker.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Though he claims to absolutely hate it, Yuu likes Ayumi's rice omelette, and will often eat it all while complaining about the odd sweet taste due to her pizza sauce. Nao uses this to help bring him back after he runs away and starts risking his life by picking fights with strangers.
• Walking the Earth: A decision made by Yuu, in order to save every single ability wielder, as he'll have to travel the world in order to Plunder all of their abilities.
• Wham Episode:
  • Episode 6. Nao suspects that Ayumi may be the latest person with an ability, but they don't have enough clues to verify it. Though she is still sick and told to stay in bed for one more day, Ayumi decides to sneak out and go to school anyway. She is then assaulted by a Yandere who likes a boy in their class who is now trying to get a little more friendly with Ayumi, thus causing Ayumi to trigger her ability, which creates a localized earthquake that destroys the building she's in.
  • Episode 7 follows the aftermath shown in the previous episode, and Yu's reaction to it. He doesn't it take it well when the doctor tells him Ayumi is dead.
  • Episode 9, revealing some very critical details about the world. Namely, Yuu and Ayumi were once imprisoned by scientists until Yuu's older brother was able to use his ability to change the world by traveling to the past. Also, this episode reveals there might be a way to save Ayumi.
  • Episode 10 reveals that Yuu has the ability to poach the abilities of people he leaps into, using this to time leap and save Ayumi.
  • Come Episode 11, the true source of abilities and the show's title is revealed. The driver Furuki is blackmailed by a group of hunters of power-wielders, so Kumagami gets captured and is forced to compromise Shun and his group after a Cold-Blooded Torture. In an attempt to save a kidnapped and ransomed Tomori in exchange for Yu, Yu gets his right eye slashed and - after an unintended trigger of his collapse ability - causes Kumagami to do a Heroic Sacrifice for Tomori.
• Wham Line: Yuu delivers one in episode 13 to Nao, when he asks who she is, having suffered memory loss during his worldwide mission to steal every user's powers.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Nao berates Yuu in episode 7 for risking his health and especially his sanity by running away and then picking fights with strangers.
• Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises: Featured prominently in Episode 6 with both Ayumi and her friend Konishi. There is a difference in how they're portrayed, though: Ayumi's is fixed in a frightened expression contrasted with Konishi's in a psychotic expression when she is trying to hurt her with a cutter blade.
• Would Hit a Girl:
  • The suspicious man chasing after Yusa in episode 3. After Nao spots him and chases after him behind a building, he punches her in the face rather hard.
  • The muscular man in episode 11. He kidnaps Nao not before he punches her so hard that makes her flying across her room and falls unconscious immediately.
• Yandere: Ayumi's classmate who likes Oikawa, the boy who now is head over heels for Ayumi. Near the end of Episode 6, she pulls out a box cutter on Ayumi and chases after her.
• You Can't Fight Fate: Zigzagged in episode 10:
  • Played mostly straight with Shunsuke. Despite his attempts at saving ability users from the organization, they are kids going up against adults, some of whom are well armed. He instead uses his knowledge of lottery numbers to instead gain incredible wealth, and then open up schools to shelter kids with abilities.
  • Averted with Yuu. He manages to save Ayumi from her Yandere classmate, then greets Shunsuke's associates as he walks home with her, knowing full well who Shunsuke was due to being told earlier in the episode in an alternate timeline.
• You Wouldn't Shoot Me: In Episode 2, the captain of the archery team that Nao investigates threatens her with his bow and arrow. Unfortunately he accidentally releases it, forcing Joujirou to attempt an Arrow Catch at high speed...

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