Line #67 Literature/AsuraCryin


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/asura_cryin.png]]
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3	OK. So take a supernatural UrbanFantasy, HaremGenre-style anime, and throw in a magical HumongousMecha. That's ''Asura Cryin[='=]'' by Gakuto Mikumo (writer of ''Videogame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps'', ''Literature/TheMysticArchivesOfDantalian'', ''Literature/StrikeTheBlood'', and ''Videogame/MetalGearSurvive'').
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5	Tomoharu Natsume one day receives a mysterious package from Shuri, a friend of his older brother. This box, called the Extractor, is sought after by many. At the same time, Tomoharu has to keep secret the fact that his childhood friend, Misao, is constantly hovering, ghostlike, beside him. Then a {{miko}} with heterochromia breaks into his house searching for the Extractor. After a fight breaks out in his house, he opens the box. What lies within is a mecha-like creature called the Asura Machina. That is only the beginning.
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7	''Asura Cryin[='=]'' is a series of LightNovels written from 2005-2010, concluding at 14 volumes. An anime adaptation by Seven Arcs was released in the spring of 2009, with a second season following in the fall.
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9	!!Provides examples of the following tropes:
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11	* AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil: Because ''one'' isn't enough, the school has ''three'':
12	** The First/Holy Guards: The Saeki siblings. {{Knight Templar}}-like disposition and clothing, and apparently more than allowed to brandish firearms inside the school.
13	** The Second/Pilgrim Union: Rikka and Shuu. The Mercenary Company.
14	** The Third/Royal Dark Society: Tooru, Shuri and the Science Club. Demon Protectors.
15	* ActionGirl: Toru for most of the series, but Aki looks to be where she got it from.
16	* AntiMagic: Every ex-handler is immune to both the science of the Asura Machina and the magic of the demons. It comes at a terrible price, though.
17	* BreakingTheFourthWall: In episode 11, Higuchi outright asks if Tomoharu's a anime protagonist.
18	* BedmateReveal: Happens at the start of Episode 2, when Tomo wakes up to find Shuri sleeping alongside him.
19	* ChainedHeat: A variation. A red ribbon ties together Kanade and Tomoharu as they're practicing for a three-legged race. Then Kanade ties it really tight. Then a superglue splashes on it, forcing them to stay together. Even when Kanade needs to take a shower...
20	* CoolMask: Picasso Mask, a swordsman with almost unfathomable skill.
21	* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Nia asks why Kanade couldn't have just burned the ribbon off earlier. It's implied that she knows she could've, but wanted to spend some time with Tomo instead.
22	* CuteGhostGirl:
23	** Misao, though she's not ''quite'' a ghost. She's a [[AnAstralProjectionNotAGhost projected existence]], which is close enough.
24	** Aine and [[spoiler: Shuri's sister Yukari]] also count. In fact [[spoiler: although some are rarely seen, ''every'' Asura Machina in the show has one related to it]].
25	* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: [[spoiler: It is revealed that overuse of Asura Machina will burn out the Burial Doll contained within until there's nothing left. Happened to Saeki's cousin Aine at the end of the first season and Tokiya before the series ever began. By sheer luck, Tomoharu managed to avoid that from happening by becoming an Asura Cryin.]]
26	* {{Cyborg}}: Shuri, whose body is loaded with guns. MoreDakka!
27	* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler: Tomoharu's older brother is dead all along, and what assumed to be his older brother is his alternate universe counterpart.]]
28	* DefeatMeansFriendship: Saeki.
29	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: "Daughters" are treated as analogous to actual children. A male partner that refuses to accept his Daughter is treated the same as a deadbeat dad who runs out on a pregnant girlfriend. Later on, [[spoiler:Kanade is sporting an intense blush and smile when she gets to introduce the Daughter she and Tomoharu made.]]
30	* DudeShesLikeInAComa: When Shuri passes out (also, she [[LaserGuidedAmnesia has amnesia]]) Tomo wants to help her get into bed, but he wears a blindfold and has Misao guide him what to do with her voice so she makes sure he doesn't see or touch anything he's not supposed to. He still gets a {{nosebleed}} when she wakes up, though.
31	* ExpendableAlternateUniverse: In this case, it's actually the "main" universe that we see get sent to hell. It turns out the first world holds several answers, as well as letting the audience see several characters who were dead in the second world be alive in this one.
32	* EyeColorChange: Kanade normally has blue eyes, but if she "[[TransformationSequence powers up]]" one of her eyes changes to green. This may change if she [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]] and has both eyes go green.
33	* EyelidPulltaunt: Misao makes this gesture at Tomoharu occasionally.
34	* EyepatchOfPower: Rikka, after having her eye damaged in a fight with Picasso Mask.
35	* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Club president and Toru]]
36	%%* {{Fanservice}}
37	* ForgotAboutHisPowers: Tomoharu. In the fourth episode he learns about how to become an Asura Cryin', but even when others of this kind are wreaking havok, Tomoharu holds out on making a contract with Kanade until the very end. In reality, he could have gained the power that could have resolved everything much earlier and with much less suffering.
38	** Justified in that at least through the end of the first season, Tomoharu was explicitly told by Saeki that becoming an Asura Cryin would sign his death warrant, and we see [[spoiler: through flashbacks that the handlers and ex-handler that would enforce the threat have successfully done so in the past. In the end, despite some people's urging, Tomoharu becoming an Asura Cryin is better for everyone involved, as Misao/Kurogane would be immune from the burning out and both Kurogane and Kanade can be empowered further]]
39	* FutureBadass: [[spoiler:From another world, but Tomoharu-1 is a much more serious version of Tomoharu-2.]]
40	* GoneHorriblyRight: [[spoiler:Black hole experiments in the first world destroyed it and caused a collision of multiple dimensions.]]
41	* TheGunslinger: Shuri and several others. Definitely not for the younger-looking characters.
42	* HaremPowered: A regular human is able to access two types of power.
43	** By sacrificing the physical body of a partner, they can draw power from their bonds/love and use them to power a HumongousMecha called an "Asura Machina". The partner in question literally [[PoweredByAForsakenchild has their emotions drained to supply energy to the mech and its attacks]]. Eventually, that partner will lose all emotions, run out of LifeEnergy completely, and disappear.
44	** By forming a "contract" (usually a romantic/sexual relationship) with a demon, humans can create a {{Familiar}} called a "Daughter". The demon and the Daughter will gain power from the contract, but it will not only drain LifeEnergy from the demon (who will crumble into crystal once depleted) but also slowly erode the human's ability to love.
45	** The only way to circumvent the energy issue is by taking BOTH of these options and [[spoiler:creating what's called an "Asura Cryin". This allows the Machina and the Daughter to circulate magic with each other, both increasing their power and slowing down (but not stopping) the energy depletion. However, this does NOT solve the emotion/mind drain problem. This is reason is why Asura Cryin are feared and typically killed on sight: they're a nigh-unstoppable PersonOfMassDestruction who's had their empathy and [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity mental state eroded to the point of insanity.]]]]
46	** In addition to this, Tomoharu ALSO gains powers from [[spoiler:Nia, a demon who has [[WindsOfDestinyChange luck-granting/draining abilities]], which she can bestow upon him with a kiss]].
47	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Aine at the end of season 1]]
48	* {{Hikikomori}}: Tokiya Kagayaki, who prefers to communicate through a stuffed koala.
49	* HumongousMecha: The Asura Machina, which is at least mecha-like. More accurately, it's a magical battle armor.
50	* JacobMarleyApparel:
51	** Tomoharu questions Misao on why this trope doesn't apply to her. Her only response is that "it'd be boring". So, somehow, she can change her clothes.
52	** Although she never changes her Victorian Alpine look -- even on the beaches of Hawaii! -- Aine's outfit is also not what she was wearing when impaled.
53	* KarmaHoudini: Kagakagari got away after trying (and failing) to bring down a plane full of highschool students. But in the second season karma bites him back.
54	* KilledMidSentence: [[spoiler:Tomoharu-1. Killed by a gunshot.]]
55	* LoveMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler:While Kagakagari seems to be this way at first, it's Kagayaki who's gone from doing questionable things to being outright insane.]]
56	* MacrossMissileMassacre: Shuri loves this trope
57	%%* MeleeATrois: The first episode.
58	* {{Miko}}: Kanade
59	* MurderTheHypotenuse: It's later revealed that [[spoiler:Toru-2 was well aware that Aiki-2 was about to disappear due to overuse of Kurogane. Toru intentionally pushed Aiki over the edge to force her to disappear, in the hopes that Takaya would finally fall for her. To her despair, losing Aiki only made him obsess over her ''more''.]]
60	* {{Nanomachines}}: Apparently both the ability to be a handler and the anti-magic of an ex-handler stem from these machines.
61	* NewTransferStudent: Misao, which, upon obtaining the Stabilizer that allowed her to be visible to normals, gets treated as an UnusuallyUninterestingSight by her friends.
62	* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: Tomoharu seems to be this. Until he got a steel box which many people sought after violently.
63	* PeopleJars: The Burial Dolls within the Asura Machina.
64	* PlayingWithFire: Kanade's powers, once put to [[MundaneUtility use]] in helping Tomoharu recover from a cold.
65	* PoweredByAForsakenChild: The Asura Machinas, which is basically a [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Space Marine Dreadnought in all but name and form]], though the body inside are healthy. [[spoiler: Overuse of those that aren't Asura Cryin will drain whoever inside it. Happened to Aine at the end of season 1]].
66	* ThePowerOfLove:
67	** A twisted version. Demons, when they find a contractor, get their power by sapping their contractor's ''ability to love''. Not that the alternative is any better.
68	** Later played straight when [[spoiler: Kurogane literally becomes HaremPowered. And on [[IncendiaryExponent on fire.]]]]
69	* ReflectionlessUselessEyes: Rikka loses her vision in one eye near the end of the series, and it becomes dull-colored and non-reflective.
70	* SheIsAllGrownUp: Nia spent 5 years in World 1 before Tomo shows up. She's roughly the same age as he is when he reappears.
71	* SmugSnake:
72	** Kagakagari Takaya
73	** Try Kiyomi from the 1st Student Government. He's WAAAAY more of a SmugSnake than Kagakagari.
74	** Kagayaki. And his reason is that he wants the Hagane just to live in a world where his girlfriend is.
75	* SoulJar: Hisui [[spoiler: Reishirou's/ Aine's Asura Machina]] in Episode 12.
76	* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Saeki isn't wearing her hair like that because anyone complimented her or anything.
77	* ThirdPersonPerson: Misao
78	* ThoseTwoGuys: Higuchi and An.
79	* TookALevelInBadass: Nia, after five years fending for herself in the first world.
80	* {{Tsundere}}: Saeki
81	* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: [[spoiler:Kagayaki's reason for fighting. Even if it means destroying ''everything''.]]
82	* WellIntentionedExtremist: Most of the villains:
83	** Saeki is willing to stop Tomoharu to become an Asura Cryin even if he needs to enforce it with a gun.
84	** Kagakagari is willing to stole everything, even committing several terrorist attacks, to bring his lover back.
85	** Kagayaki intend to tear the second universe in order to open a universe where her (previously burned-out) lover might be exist.
86	* WindsOfDestinyChange: The power of Ania and her family. She can give and take luck at will.
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Context Literature / AsuraCryin