History Anime / GaReiZero

* FourIsDeath: First episode: [[spoiler:4th Squadron all killed off.]]

* BigBad: Mitogawa Kazuhiro is responsible for everything bad that happens in the series. [[KarmaHoudini He gets away with it]], too, by virtue of being an antagonist in the manga.

%%* TheDragon: When someone falls to the lure of the Bane Stones.

* RunningAwayToCry: Kagura in episode 9 [[spoilers:when she realises that Yomi ''did'' kill Mei all along.]]

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Ayame Zinguji unleashes her minigun on a trapped Yomi to take her down. [[spoilers:It does not work.]]

%%* ZenSurvivor: Ayame.

* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:Yomi's vocal chords were destroyed and her tendons severed by Mitogawa in episode 9, and she can't defend herself against accusations of May's death. Not that she could have otherwise, since she did indeed kill her. She could have legitimately argued for extenuating circumstances, what with the whole murder, fraud, and Slave To Evil thing that her enemy had going on]].

** [[spoiler:May, first thought to be a major rival to Yomi, gets killed 2 episodes after being properly introduced... then she is revived as a puppet of evil, only to get KilledOffForReal another 2 episodes later. Turns out her spot in the opening was justified.]]

* BitchInSheepsClothing: May intervenes when her father tries to persuade Naraku to make her the leader of the Isayama clan, and says that Yomi is a much better choice despite not being blood related. [[spoiler:She later reveals that she did so intending for Yomi to have a tragic "accident" so that she could take over. After she's killed by Mitogawa and is resurrected with a Bane Stone, she kills her uncle under the Sesshoseki's control and later taunts Yomi over it.]]

%%* CoolBigSis: Yomi and May.

* TheCorrupter: Mitogawa serves as this to several characters. [[spoiler:He kills May and resurrects her with a Bane Stone that causes her to kill her uncle. When she protests that this isn't what she wanted, Mitogawa says it's too late to turn back and the only course she has is to succumb to her hatred and ambition. He also serves as this to Yomi, calling her out on killing Mei after she was incapacitated and begging for mercy as a means of breaking her.]]

* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:May regains control of herself from the Bane Stone just in time to be stabbed through the face by an enraged Yomi, who disregards her attempt to explain what happened and plead for mercy.]]

* EtTuBrute: The final few episodes are a series of betrayals. [[spoiler:Yomi is betrayed by her cousin May, who murders her father under the influence of the Bane Stone. May's father goes against Naraku's will by naming his daughter as the clan leader instead of Yomi, and May proceeds to rob Yomi of her remaining sources of happiness. When May reveals she killed Yomi's father, Yomi kills her and is delivered a BreakingSpeech by Mitogawa, who then cripples her. As a result, the father of her fiancé calls off their marriage as she is no longer the clan head and is suspected of murder, and her fiancé himself neglects to visit her. The straw that breaks the camel's back is Kagura running out on Yomi after realizing she did kill May.]]

* GoryDiscretionShot: [[spoiler: Nurse Misuzu's death.]] Also, Yomi stabbing [[spoiler: May]] in the face, but just barely.

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler:Kazuhiro, May, Yomi, Kiri...]]

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: The director unleashes her minigun on a trapped Yomi to take her down. [[spoilers:It does not work.]]

* WeHaveReserves: As the director points out to the military heads in episode 1, fighting the spirits with their current anti-spiritual forces is far too costly for the army to handle. At the current rates, they will burn through their men faster than can be replaced.

* DeathByCop: It gets implied that the reason [[spoiler: Yomi spares both Kagura and Noriyuki after her corruption is because she was hoping that one of the two would MercyKill her.]]

%%* DisturbedDoves: In the opening.

%%* EyesAlwaysShut: Kagura's father.

%%* FlashBack
%%* FourIsDeath: First episode: [[spoiler:4th Squadron all killed off.]]

%%* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler: Yomi]]

%%* PowerCrystal: The Bane Stones.

%%* RazorFloss

%%* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill

%%* WeHaveReserves

* BadassGrandpa: Kagura's father almost manages to defeat Yomi one on one.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler:What Yomi realized in her final moment in life is that she only wishes to protect Kagura. Also a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.]]

* ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil: [[spoiler: The Bane Stone does this to anyone who gets caught by its 'pure' form. Yomi managing to break past it in the end counts as a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.]]

** The Bane Stones were created from the scattered spiritual power of a ''kitsune''.

%%* BenevolentBoss: Ayame Zinguji. {{Office}} dynamics exist.

* GirlOnGirlIsHot: Kabuki is... distracted when Yomi kisses Kagura to swipe the last bite of Pocky from her and starts suggestively tickling her. Yomi boots him in the face and calls him a pervert.

* Badass Grandpa: Kagura's Dad almost manages to defeat Yomi one on one.

** [[spoiler:The squad in the promotional posters are dead ''by the end of the first episode''.]]

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Yomi's uncle.]]

* BerserkerTears: Kagura letting rip with Byakuei against a horde of Category Ds at the climax to episode 12.

* BigSisterMentor: Yomi declares herself Kagura's big sister and helps train her.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: May intervenes when her father tries to persuade Naraku to make her the leader of the Isayama clan, and says that Yomi is a much better choice despite not being blood related. [[spoiler:She later reveals that she did so intending for Yomi to have a tragic "accident" so that she could take over. After she's killed by Mitogawa and is resurrected with a Bane Stone, she kills her uncle under the Sesshoseki's control.]]

* BreakTheCutie: Yomi endures a massive amount of suffering in the second half of the series, setting up her transformation into the villain of the first arc of the manga. [[spoiler:Her father is murdered, and her uncle -- who disliked Yomi due to her being adopted -- harshly berates Yomi for her shortcomings, usurps leadership of the Isayama clan, and passes it to her cousin, Mei. Mei then kicks 13-year-old Kagura out of the house and takes the family heirloom katana, which had been given to Yomi by her father, while rubbing Yomi's losses in her face. Mei later ambushes Kagura, tries to kill her, and admits to killing her father out of ambition and hatred. After Yomi kills Mei, Mitogawa reveals he was behind everything that had been going on, points out that she killed Mei out of hatred and anger rather than genuine self-defence, and cripples her. She spends two months in a coma and wakes up to find herself accused of murdering Mei out of jealousy and mutilating herself to appear innocent, that Kagura no longer needs her assistance as a Vanquisher, and that her fiancé's father has broken off their marriage due to the murder accusations and the fact that Yomi can no longer look after herself. Kagura running away after realizing that Yomi did in fact kill Mei out of anger is what causes her to break down in despair and accept Mitogawa's offer of a Bane Stone.]]

* TheCorrupter: [[spoiler:Mitogawa serves as this to May, implanting her with a Bane Stone that causes her to kill her uncle. When she protests that this isn't what she wanted, Mitogawa says it's too late to turn back and the only course she has is to succumb to her hatred and ambition. He also serves as this to Yomi, calling her out on killing Mei after she was incapacitated and begging for mercy as a means of breaking her.]]

* TheDarkSide: Anyone who works with [[spoiler:Bane Stones]] are vulnerable to this.

* DecoyProtagonist: Interestingly enough, [[spoiler:the apparent villain becomes the actual protagonist after killing the decoys in the first episode, as a result of the show being a flashback showing how things got to that point]].
** To put it more accurately, there is not just a DecoyProtagonist, [[spoiler: there is a Decoy ''Cast'']].

* EvolvingCredits: An extremely symbolic one starting episode 9. [[spoiler: Kagura doesn't catch up with Yomi. Yomi doesn't look back; she keeps walking.]]

* FullFrontalAssault [[spoiler: Evil Yomi in episode 10.]]
%%* FuroScene

* HeroicBSOD: Kagura got lite-version of this [[spoiler: after she's forced to kill the school nurse, whom she's fond of]]. Toru never recovers fully from this [[spoiler:and this eventually led to his demise, as nightmarish flashbacks come haunting him at the most unfortunate moment]].
* HowWeGotHere: Whole series variation after the first two episodes.

** ThisIsADrill.
** Or rather two drills dual-wielded. Two RocketPunch drills.

* InvisibleToNormals: The reason why Seekers technology had to be developed.

* KamehameHadoken: Ranguren's primary attack.
* KarmaHoudini: Pretty much the opposite of DoomedByCanon. [[spoiler: Mitogawa being a character in the manga means he gets off scot free until then. Fortunately, [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty his warranty expires in the manga proper.]]]]
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Only the sword users have been seen to OHKO Category Bs...

** One scene in Episode 9 in particular stands out as a nasty example of this. [[spoiler: Yomi has been left crippled and mute by the injuries she suffered confronting Mitogawa, and Noriyuki's father decides to break off his son's arranged marriage with her because of this. So he visits Yomi in hospital to tell her that. To his credit, he doesn't seem completely ignorant of her distress, and even more or less tells her that she can blame him, but one still gets the impression the task was made much easier by the fact she couldn't say anything.]]

* LifeEnergy: Bane Stones provide its users with power to defy death for some time. However, its Japanese name Sesshouseki means "Death Stone" and will eventually corrupt the users and sap them of their life force, turning them into phantoms.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Bane Stone]] victims do this when they regain control temporarily.

* StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred: [[spoiler: May goads Yomi into doing this, before regaining her consciousness/sanity back, then tries to plead with her not to do it. However, considering that May attacked and later told Yomi she killed Yomi's dad out of jealousy of her, it's not surprising that Yomi follows through with May's taunt.]]

* VasquezAlwaysDies: [[spoiler:Yomi. Poor Yomi.]]

* WhamEpisode: [[spoiler: How many shows have one of these for their ''very first episode?'']]

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The last episode of the anime flashes forward to the manga timeline.
* WhiteHairBlackHeart: Mitogawa.

* ArrangedMarriage: Yomi's adoptive father, Naraku, arranged one with Noriyuki's father. He offers to call it off since the two were so unenthusiastic, but Yomi agrees to go through with it out of a sense of duty. During an argument, Nori reveals he's only going along with it because he can't disobey his father.

* BelligerentSexualTension: Yomi and Noriyuki are engaged, but don't particularly get along too well.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: May intervenes when her father tries to persuade Naraku to make her the leader of the Isayama clan, and says that Yomi is a much better choice despite not being blood related. [[spoiler:She later reveals that she did so intending for Yomi to have a tragic "accident" so that she could take over. After she's killed by Mitogawa and comes back, she kills her uncle under the Sesshoseki's control.]]

* BlackSwordsAreBetter: Yomi wields the Shishio, a long katana containing the spirit of a ''nue'' called Ranguren.

%%* EtTuBrute

* LifeEnergy: Bane Stones provide its users with power to defy death for some time. However, its Japanese name Sesshouseki means "Death Stone" and will eventually sap the users of their life force, turning them into phantoms.

* NotUsingTheZWord: No one ever calls the former humans "zombies".

* RedOniBlueOni: Subverted: Yomi [[spoiler:and May]] who control the red monster Ranguren is calm. Kagura, who controls the white monster Byakuei is prone to panicking.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler: May at Yomi, which is reversed once May reveals she killed Yomi's father]]. Complete with matching insert song.

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman

* ICannotSelfTerminate: [[spoiler:Yomi in Episode 11.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Bane Stone]] victims do this when they regain control temporarily. [[spoiler:Mei is horrified when she remembers killing her uncle and runs away, but succumbs to the Bane Stone's corruption due to Mitogawa.]]

* StraightGay: Iwahata hits on Kabuki and says that if Yomi and Noriyuki break up he might pursue the latter.

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill

* TragicHero: The final fate of those who wield Ga-Rei, but especially Yomi.
** See [[http://yomi.ghost-lights.org/info_tragic.php here]] for a closer examination of Yomi as a tragic hero.

* NotUsingTheZedWord: No one ever calls the former humans "zombies".

** ''Kasha'' are a common type of Category C monster, though they lack their usual cat-like appearance and instead appear as two-legged lizard monsters made of lava.
** A ''Tsuchigumo'' shows up as a Category C monster.

* ArrangedMarriage: Yomi's father, Naraku, arranged one with Noriyuki's father. He offers to call it off since the two were so unenthusiastic, but Yomi agrees to go through with it out of a sense of duty. During an argument, Nori reveals he's only going along with it because he can't disobey his father.

* TheCorrupter: Mitogawa serves as this to May, implanting her with a Bane Stone that causes her to kill her uncle. When she protests that this isn't what she wanted, Mitogawa says it's too late to turn back and the only course she has is to succumb to her hatred and ambition.]]

* DecoyProtagonist: Interestingly enough, [[spoiler:the apparent villain becomes the actual protagonist after killing the decoys in the first episode]].

* DespairEventHorizon: Led to Yomi's FaceHeelTurn.

* TheDragon: When someone falls to the lure of the Bane Stones.
* DudeWheresMyReward: Evil Yomi. They're good reasons for her FaceHeelTurn.
* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:May regains control of herself from the Bane Stone just in time to be stabbed through the face by an enraged Yomi, who disregards her attempt to explain what happened.]]

* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:Yomi's vocal chords were destroyed by Mitogawa in episode 9, and she can't defend herself against accusations of May's death. Not that she could have otherwise, since she did indeed kill her. She could have legitimately argued for extenuating circumstances, what with the whole murder, fraud, and Slave To Evil thing that her enemy had going on]].

* ArtifactOfDeath: The only way for its wielder to part with Byakuei is through death. And they don't live long either, because Byakuei constantly saps its master's physical and spiritual strength. This doesn't seem to be the case with Ranguren.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: May intervenes when her father tries to persuade Naraku to make her the leader of the Isayama clan, and says that Yomi is a much better choice despite not being blood related. [[spoiler:She later reveals that she did so intending for Yomi to have a tragic "accident" so that she could take over.]]

%%* {{Fanservice}}
* FearfulSymmetry: Also MonsterClown.

** Mxitogawa is behind everything.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Bane Stone]] victims do this when they regain control temporarily. [[spoiler: Mitogawa either did it willingly or has been overridden too long for this to happen to ''him''.]]

* ActionGirl: Yomi and Kagura

%%* BunnyEarsLawyer: Master Michael.

%%* StraightGay: Iwahata.

* BarbieDollAnatomy: Aside from one bath scene, none of the naked girls have any attributes.