History Main / SittingOnTheRoof

[[quoteright:299:[[Anime/{{Doraemon}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doraemon_31.png]]]]

->''"Right smack dab in the middle of town''\\
''I've found a paradise that's trouble proof...''\\
''And if this world starts getting you down''\\
''There's room enough for two''\\
''Up on the roof..."''

%%* The end of Minagi's arc in ''VisualNovel/{{AIR}}''.
* ''Anime/AngelBeats'' has several scenes involving conversations on the school roof, usually those between [[TheLeader Yurippe]] and [[TheHero Otonashi.]]

* In one ''Anime/CardcaptorSakura'' episode, Sakura stops by Yukito's home and finds him doing this, to her great confusion.

* A key ''Manga/DeathNote'' scene has Light finding a distracted, uncharacteristically chatty L brooding on the roof of the headquarters building.
* Done for the wrong reasons in ''Anime/DigimonDataSquad'', as Masaru moves Agumon up onto the roof in order to keep his mom from discovering him after Agumon tumbles out of his closet.
* Renamon from ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' can frequently be found spending her downtime sitting on the roof of her tamer's house.

* Kyo in ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' spends a lot of time sulking on the roof of both Shigure's house and the school. Most times he does this, it's so that Tohru can follow him and give him a pep talk.

* ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'':
** ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandaloneComplex'': Togusa has a conversation with Major Kusanagi about the Laughing Man case on the roof of a skyscraper. The Major is standing on the wrong side of the safety rail at the very edge of the building, at one point casually turning to face Togusa and crossing her feet, as if to show off her NervesOfSteel and the perfect balance enabled by her cyborg body.
** ''Anime/GhostInTheShell1995'' opens with Kusanagi standing on top of a skyscraper while eavesdropping on the Net. Similar scenes in the various anime spin-offs are shown as a CallBack.

** On another occasion, Yoshinoya-sensei went up on the roof to read a novel on her mobile phone, but the main four, misinterpreting her previous behaviors, come to the conclusion that she's about to commit suicide, and go up to try to talk her down from that. They are relieved to learn the truth.

%%* Jiyu Nanohana in ''Anime/JubeiChan''

* In ''Monochrome Factor'' it's Akira and Kengo's favorite spot for avoiding classes and discussing the current situation.
* [[Franchise/LyricalNanoha Nanoha]] and her school friends sometimes eat on the roof. At the end of ''[[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs A's]]'', she, Fate, and Hayate head up to the roof and activate their Devices as they head out on a mission.
* Shinji also likes spending time on the school roof in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. In ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'', he meets Mari there for the first time. Apparently, Mari thought that parachuting onto a school's roof is a good way to hide her arrival into Japan. She obviously didn't count on [[CrashIntoHello someone else being right where she lands]]. In the English dub she mentions not landing in the right location, however.

* The characters of ''Literature/ThePetGirlOfSakurasou'' frequently hang out on the roof of school or have {{rooftop confrontation}}s, and the second intro sequence shows them having a ''hot pot party'' on the roof of Sakura Hall (''not'' a flat roof, mind you).
* In ''Anime/PokemonIChooseYou'', Ash stands with Verity and Sorrel on the roof of his school when he dreams about living in a world without Pokémon. He looks past the fence and wonders what's beyond his town. The DreamSequence helps him appreciate the freedom he has as a Pokémon trainer.
* Ranma from ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''. This is aided by the fact that he can [[RoofHopping leap up there from the ground]]. Many scenes also feature various characters up on the school's roof. This is anime only; in the manga Ranma sits in trees far away from the Dojo to get privacy but does use the roof as a meeting place.
* In ''VisualNovel/SchoolDays'', Sekai, Makoto, and Katsura often eat lunch on the roof. In the ending to the anime (and one of the game's endings), [[spoiler:Kotonoha lures Sekai to the roof with an email from Makoto's cell phone and kills her]].

* Shana from ''Literature/ShakuganNoShana'' does this after her first day in Yuji's world, waiting for Friagne to return so that she can fight him again.

* The launching point for ''Literature/TheTwelveKingdoms'', which starts off in a typical anime high school setting but leaves it more or less permanently after the first half of the first episode/chapter. Youko Nakajima and the kirin Keiki meet in a classroom and head for the roof – not for the usual reasons, but because they are under attack by monsters powerful enough to kill every student and teacher in the building. In the anime, two other students, Ikuya Asano and Yuka Sugimoto, are on the roof for a more typical social rendezvous and are swept up in the adventure.

* The boys in ''Manga/YouAndMe'' are constantly sitting on their schools roof when they're not in class. They spend so much time eating lunch on the roof that they've forgotten much about the cafeteria. When forced to use it when the door to the roof has been painted, they say they are unlikely to go to the cafeteria ever again.
* Yugi from the first ''Anime/YuGiOh'' has done this. [[WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries LittleKuriboh]] even based a joke around this; he's been locked up there again.
* ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'': Judai spends a good deal of time on the roof of Duel Academia talking to Duel Spirits.

* This is a staple of superhero comics in general, with urban vigilantes being regularly seen perched on rooftops, towers, statues/gargoyles and other structures in their spare time to do some soul-searching or to converse with one another. This is both for cool aesthetic reasons as simple practicality (as superheroes are usually either airborne or parkouing through rooftops to get around the city, so it makes sense they spend most of their times in rooftops).
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':

* ''ComicBook/SupremePower'': Hyperion goes into space on a few occasions, partially to get his thoughts in order, partially to [[spoiler:indulge in early fantasies of absolute power.]]
* During ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet'', while the other heroes are making battle plans in Avengers Mansion, [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] slips away to the roof to think. He's joined by ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, and they share a rare sweet moment together.
* Once, in The Avengers, Hawkeye, after being rebuffed (yet again!) by Scarlet Witch, sat on the roof of Tony Stark's townhouse (at the time, the Avengers' HQ) bemoaning his lot; "I've been blown off by the Black Widow three times, first for the Commies, then SHIELD, and now Daredevil, and now Witchie won't give me a tumble, what's WRONG with me? I've got LOOKS, I'm fun to TALK to...."

** In ''ComicBook/EscapeFromThePhantomZone'': After escaping from a pocket dimension, ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} take a moment to sit on a rooftoop, relax and watch the sunrise as discussing their latest adventure.

* In Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'', Aladdin and Jasmine sit on a rooftop at the end of [[FallingInLoveMontage "A Whole New World"]], watching fireworks.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'', Anna and Hans stargaze on a rooftop during their FallingInLoveMontage.

* Spider Robinson is fond of this trope, and in his ''[[Literature/CallahansCrosstimeSaloon Callahan]]'' series the bar even has a beautiful iron circular staircase leading to the roof. Before the staircase was installed, patrons rode up in a large dumbwaiter.
* ''Literature/{{Circleverse}}'': A favorite pastime of the four main characters from ''Literature/CircleOfMagic''; the first-floor roof of Discipline Cottage is accessible from a second-floor window. Briar even makes it his HappyPlace.

* ''Literature/{{Mistborn}}'': Vin does this a few times in the [[Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy original trilogy]], notably after an argument with the rest of the crew.

* A Westernized version in ''Literature/ATreeGrowsInBrooklyn'', Francie reads on the fire escape every Saturday afternoon, when weather permits. Since they live on the top floor of their third home, they also have dibs on the roof.
* In the first graphic novel published in the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' series, there's a scene where Graystripe and Millie have a heart-to-heart conversation on a random roof. It kind of makes sense because they're cats. This image was even colored and used in promotional materials.
* Tally from ''Literature/CanYouSeeMe'' likes to sit on the garden shed, even though she's not supposed to be up there.
* Nathan from ''Literature/IWishYouAllTheBest'' likes to sit on his roof. He calls it his quiet place, where he goes when life is too overwhelming. After Ben has a panic attack at a WildTeenParty, Nathan invites them to sit on the roof with him.

--> I sat on the roof, and kicked off the moss! For a few of the verses had got me quite cross...

--> Up on the roof I go\\

%%* Tomokazu Mikuri in ''Anime/{{Yumeria}}''.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfTianding'' have two NPC beggars sitting on rooftops, where if you find them and drop coins in their cups they'll give you a special item that grants you more experience points. How did they even get on the rooftops, and ''why''(asking for alms on a ''roof''?) isn't explained in-game.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', the roof of Gekkoukan High School plays host to numerous events within the game, both plot-driven and optional (in certain Social Links). Pretty much all of these involve some sort of personal heart-to-heart conversation. Also, you can actually access the roof yourself in the normal course of the game, although nothing happens if you do.
** There's also a sidequest to water the dying flowers up there, but it's the most [[{{Filler}} trivial]] side-quest in the game.
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'''s heroes also use their school's roof; it's where you can eat lunch with your friends, help out a few [=NPCs=] in {{Sidequest}}s, and interact with Social Links -- including [[spoiler:preventing a threatened suicide attempt in one SL.]] Chie can be found on the roof when she's available on school days.
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'' has the heroes use chairs littered around their school's roof for their first "hideout" to secretly plan their PhantomThief activities, before people notice they've been hanging up there a lot, forcing them to relocate. The roof also ends up being closed due to a student attempting suicide by jumping off the roof. Later on in the game, Haru takes care of a garden on the roof, and some of the player's Confidant events with her take place on the school roof.
* Near the beginning of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'', Ezio and Federico have a race to reach the top of a church steeple. After Ezio wins, the two brothers joke around before commenting that they "[[TemptingFate lead a good life]]" and sitting down, staring up at the night sky while the game's title appears.
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' also has its titles appearing while two characters stand on a roof, although this time it's Ezio and Mario deciding what to do with the Apple of Eden.

* Shiraki Aeka from ''Yume Miru Kusuri'' manages to hit [[spoiler:private lunches, heart-to-hearts, romantic goings-on, and (attempted) suicide. The only thing missing is a secret supernatural battle, and I think Antoinette pissing and shitting herself is close enough to qualify.]]
* In ''VisualNovel/HotelDuskRoom215'', Iris and Mila are often on the roof, pondering stuff.

* ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'' has a rooftop lunchtime scene between Hisao, Emi, and Rin. You also end up hanging out on the roof with Shizune and Misha at the end of Shizune's route in Act 1. In addition, [[spoiler:if you haven't gotten onto any girl's path by the day of the festival, Hisao winds up drinking with Kenji on the roof, which leads to him [[DownerEnding falling off and dying]].]]
** The "access is almost always explicitly forbidden" gets touched upon, as [[spoiler:in the previously mentioned bad ending]], Hisao goes by a sign telling him to keep off, and in Emi's route, Misha, translating for Shizune, points out that it's against the rules (although the two often eat or talk on the roof with Hisao in Shizune's route).
* One illustration for ''VideoGame/GanbareGoemon's Great Adventure'' has the eponymous Goemon doing this on a pagoda.
* In ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'', Loid hides in a trash can on top of a school roof to avoid bullies. Ninten befriends him by going up there and giving him a bottle rocket.
* One of the few emotional scenes in the game ''VideoGame/CryOfFear'' has the protagonist, Simon, finding his friend Sophie on the roof of a random building. The scene starts with Simon, obviously confused, but continues onto being a rather heartwarming scene with the two of them sitting on the edge looking out over the city. [[spoiler:That is, until Sophie tells Simon she [[JustFriends likes]] him, but doesn't love him back, where-on she [[FromBadToWorse promptly]] [[DrivenToSuicide commits suicide]] by jumping off the ledge.]]
* "Episode 3: Backdoor" of ''VideoGame/Code7'' begins with Raven sitting on the roof of the hideout, [[StargazingScene looking at the stars]] for what she feels is the first time and contemplating who she really is. It is up to you and [[CheerfulAI META]] to try to cheer her up.
* Ibuki in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'' sits on a [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/f/f2/Vs181002-023.JPG/revision/latest?cb=20181003003140 roof]] during her character story when she retells the events of A Shadow Falls and her experiences.

* The characters in ''[[VisualNovel/EfaFairyTaleOfTheTwo ef: A Tale of Memories]]'' spend a lot of their time on the roofs of their high school and the local church.

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* In ''Anime/SteinsGate'' Okabe retreats to the roof of his apartment on several occasions when feeling stressed, and is sometimes followed up there by Makise who confronts him about his strange behaviour.

* A couple of characters do this regularly in ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework'':
** Johanna does this in her apartment building when she wants to be alone and cry.
** Morgan does this ''at school'' when she wants some alone time.
* Yuuichi goes up on the roof to talk to Mishio in ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}''.

* The characters in ''[[VisualNovel/EfaFairyTaleOfTheTwo ef: A Tale of Memories]]'' spend a lot of their time on the roofs of their high school and the local church.

* In ''VisualNovel/KindredSpiritsOnTheRoof'', Yuna, who's rather uncomfortable around most other people, tends to eat lunch on the roof. The plot kicks off when she sees two ghosts on the roof, who realize that she can see and hear them and recruit her to play a "Yuri Cupid" to get lesbian couples together.

* Noa and Asuma frequently relax and share quiet moments on the police HQ's roof in ''Anime/{{Patlabor}}''. Most of the characters spend some time up there at some point. This gets them in trouble at one point, when a media helicopter gets pictures of most of Division 2 hanging out on the roof and runs a story about government waste.

** In the episode where Lisa becomes a vegetarian, Apu reveals an entire garden located on the roof of the Kwik-E-Mart. It's great for watching free drive-in movies.