Coud van Giruet is a brash and adventurous young rogue who dreams of becoming the greatest Sky Pirate in history. One day, he stumbles upon a strange girl named Ren who turns out to be an Edel Raid: a special type of human able to form a contract with a "Pledger" and become a powerful weapon. Together, they embark on a quest to find the legendary "Edel Garden", which is supposedly the birthplace of all Edel Raids.
Joining them on their journey are members of Arc Aile, a military organisation seeking to put every Edel Raid under their protection. But a common enemy soon emerges in "Chaos Choir", a group of religious extremists that worships the power of Edel Raids and wishes to capture Ren for their own purposes.
Contains examples of:
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Cisqua becomes conflicted about Arc Aile after she meets an Eden Raid who escaped from Arc Aile's custody and puts the organization's MO into question by pointing out they separated her from her lover and took away her happiness with it. Then a higher-up orders to reseal Ren, making Cisqua more disillusioned. Finally, her fellow Guardian Myna brainwashes Cou and attacks Ren, forcing Cisqua to kill her and wonder how Arc Aile could lose their way like this.
- Adaptational Early Appearance: In the manga, Grayarts and Cocovet appear in the story following the arc of Rasati and Lilia. In the anime, they appear before said arc, in episode 7.
- Adaptational Late Appearance: Characters who appeared early in the manga, like Wolx, Tilel, Sunweld and Challo, appear much later in the anime.
- Adaptational Slimness: Rasati's Fat Bastard boss was replaced with the slim Marl in the anime.
- Adaptation Drift: The first half of the anime loosely follows the manga with some significant changes. Starting from episode 12, the anime tells its own story.
- Adaptation Expansion: The anime added Day in the Limelight episodes for Cisqua, Kuea and Rowen to flesh out their backgrounds and motives more than in the manga.
- Adaptation Name Change: In the manga, the villainous organization is called "Orga Night". In the anime, the villains are known as "Chaos Choir".
- Almost Kiss: In episode 13, Ren tries to kiss a sleeping Cou, but she gets interrupted when she hears him calling her name in his sleep.
- Alternate Continuity: The anime tells the story very differently from the manga. The first half loosely follows the same events, but it fully diverges starting from episode 12 and becomes its own original story.
- And the Adventure Continues: The final episode ends with Cou and Ren flying in an aircraft towards the night sky as they promise to continue travelling together until they reach the stars. Cisqua, Rowen and Kuea also join them for new adventures.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: In the final battle, the Edel Raid hunter Wolx and the martial artist Pledger Rasati team up against the Mooks of Chaos Choir.
- Betty and Veronica Switch: Viro joins the main characters late in the anime and presents herself as a bubbly and clumsy fangirl of Cou and a polar opposite to the Mystical Waif Kuudere Ren. Then it's revealed Viro is an assassin Chaos Choir sent to kill Cou, but finds herself conflicted because her feelings for Cou turned real even though she knows he loves Ren.
- Big Damn Heroes: At the start of episode 22, Sunweld and Challo arive in an airship to protect the main characters from the leaders of Chaos Choir, who are forced to retreat.
- Big Damn Kiss: Cou and Ren share their First Kiss at the end of episode 19.
- Black-and-Gray Morality: The conflict between Arc Aile and Chaos Choir. Arc Aile is an organization with the goal of protecting Edel Raids from being used and exploited as tools, but they do so by capturing them and locking inside their protection facilities where they spend the rest of their lives living comfortably but isolated from the outside world. They also use some willing Edel Raids as weapons for their missions. Chaos Choir is still far worse and definitely evil as they're ready to dispose of humans, Edel Raids, and Sting Raids when they fail a mission, and they exploit Sting Raids to add to their own power.
- Bloodless Carnage: Unlike the manga which is Bloodier and Gorier, characters are never shown beeding in the anime regardless of the injuries they receive.
- Bookends: The anime starts with Cou setting out to raid an airship with the rest of the Red Lynx Sky Pirate crew. The final episode ends the same way, but now Cou is working with Ren, his new friends and the Red Lynx crew to rescue kidnapped Edel Raids.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: In episode 16, Cou gets brainwashed by Myna and almost strangles Ren in her sleep.
- Canon Foreigner: The anime included several exclusive characters who aren't from the manga. This includes the leaders of Chaos Choir.
- Conspiracy Redemption: At the end of the anime, after seeing Cou and Ren using The Power of Love to rediscover a legendary chant, the leaders of Chaos Choir see they were wrong in trying to make Edel Raids rule over humans and they make peace with Arc Aile to create a world where humans and Edel Raids can coexist.
- Disney Death: In episode 24, the leaders of Chaos Choir seem to kill Cou. Next episode, Eve uses her last remaining power to save Cou.
- Dress Hits Floor: In episode 12, Cou has an Imagine Spot where Ren drops her dress and invites him to take a bath with her.
- Exact Eavesdropping: In episode 20, Ren overhears Cou admitting his love for her when Viro asks him how he feels about Ren.
- Flashback Effects: Kuea's flashbacks of Episode 6 are done in "limited palette" Deliberately Monochrome, with only red or a significant person/object colored.
- Floating Continent: Edel Garden is a floating piece of land in the sky.
- Gecko Ending: The anime
Overtook the Manga halfway through and quickly went in a completely different direction that wraps everything up by the end. - Gilded Cage: Arc Aile's protection facilities are this to Edel Raids. The girls can live comfortably and they're protected from hunters who seek to capture and sell them as weapons, but they aren't allowed to ever leave the facilities and visit people from outside. One Edel Raid, Selena, particularly hates and resents Arc Aile for separating her from her boyfriend and trapping her in their facilities for decades.
- Girls Stare at Scenery, Boys Stare at Girls: In episode 7, while the team is flying an airship, Ren looks out the window to admire the scenery and Cou stares at Ren as she does so.
- Gory Discretion Shot:
- At the end of episode 7, the camera Fades to Black right as Gladius is about to kill Grayarts and Cocovet.
- In episode 16, the scene cuts away when Cisqua shoots Myna, killing her.
- Hot Springs Episode: Episode 17 has the main group plus Viro bathing in a hot spring.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: In episode 26, Ren is forced to react with the leaders of Chaos Choir and her body is controlled by them, forcing her to fight against Cou and her friends. Cou uses The Power of Love to make Ren return to her senses and she's able to resist the control of Chaos Choir, finally being freed by Cou's magic chant.
- Inconsistent Spelling: Has this problem with the show title and other plot elements; for example, Pledgers (initially introduced as either "Preja" or "Pleasure"), Sting Raids (misspelled as "Stream Raids" or "Sitting Raids"), or even the Eden Raid (called "Edil Raid" by the first fansubs of the series). Not helped by the Geneon US release of the series, which has the series title both ways, one in the English subs, the other in the title sequence itself. Official spelling in the Japanese versions is "adilraid."
- In Love with the Mark: Viro joins the main characters only to get near Cou and murder him, until she realizes that she fell in love with him.
- Jealous Romantic Witness: In episode 19, Cou and Ren finally kiss. The scene then cuts to a heartbroken Viro, who had just fallen for Cou. Same thing happens next episode.
- Karma Houdini: The leaders of Chaos Choir abused and disposed many of their subordinates, humans, Edel Raids and Sting Raids alike. They have a change of heart at the end of the anime and decide to make peace with humans, but none of them receives comeuppance for their villainy and cruelty.
- Kneel Before Frodo: At the end of Episode 21, Orfus, the main leader of Chaos Choir, kneels before Ren as she reveals that Ren is the heir to the throne of Edel Garden and they're there to retrieve her.
- Lighter and Softer: While the anime still gets dark in some episodes, it's still tones down the dark aspects and violence of the manga.
- Lotus-Eater Machine: In episode 13, the higher-ups of Arc Aile attempt to reseal Ren and trap her mind in an illusion of Edel Garden. She manages to wake up thanks to hearing Eve's voice still calling her to go to Edel Garden.
- Love Triangle: Towards the end of the anime, Viro falls in love with Cou, but he and Ren are mutually in love. Viro gives up on her love shortly before her death.
- Mayfly–December Romance: A Filler episode focuses on an Edel Raid named Selena who escaped from Arc Aile to reunite with her human lover, only to find he already died of old age and she didn't notice how long she was gone because Edel Raids don't physically age.
- Mind-Control Eyes: Humans who become possessed by Sting Raids get blank look in their eyes.
- Mind-Control Music: In episode 16, Myna uses a song to mind control people she has injected with a drug. This includes Cou and a Sting Raid.
- Modesty Towel: In episode 6, Cou runs into Ren wearing nothing but a towel at night. Ren doesn't get why Cou got flustered by what he saw.
- Mugged for Disguise: In episode 9, Cisqua, Rowen and Kuea are attacked by three guys in hooded cloaks that try to drive them away from Razfe Ankul. After beating them, they steal their clothes and leave them hanging from a cliff while they put on their cloaks to infiltrate the town.
- Nebulous Evil Organisation: Chaos Choir is a mysterious evil organization which repeatedly sends agents to try and kidnap Ren, who they need for their own purposes.
- Not What It Looks Like:
- In episode 3, Cisqua finds Cou and Ren on a bed and draws the obvious conclusion, causing her to attack Cou when he was innocent.
- In episode 18, Cou asks Ren if she's jealous about him reacting with Viro instead of her last night, and tells her her chest should hurt when she's jealous. Ren then places Cou's hand on her chest and Rowen walks into a scene where it looks like Cou is fondling Ren's breasts.
- Pie in the Face: In episode 3, Cou gets a pie thrown at his face when he bursts into Beazon's lair.
- The Power of Love: In the finale, Cou and Ren's love for each other allows them to rediscover the lost legendary chant of Edel Raids and humans. With this, Ren is freed from the control of the leaders of Chaos Choir, and the war between Arc Aile and Chaos Choir immediately ends as all the Edel Raids and Sting Raids get their power taken away.
- Restraining Bolt: In episode 6, during a sparring session with Rowen and Kuea, Cou is forced to wear a headgear that gives him an electric shock when he uses more of Ren's power than needed.
- Scorpion People: The Mooks of the final battle look like humanoids with mechanical scorpion-like lower bodies.
- Second-Act Breakup: In episode 23, blaming herself for putting Cou in danger, Ren leaves Cou and tries to journey to Edel Garden by herself. Cou follows her and they reconcile two episodes later.
- Sleep Cute: Cou and Ren are seen sleeping next to each other a few times.
- Spider Tank: In episode 5, a pair of Sting Raid Mooks force a reaction with humans to transform into a large tank resembling a spider.
- Super Supremacist: The leaders of Chaos Choir seek to create a world where Edel Raids rule over humans.
- Talking to Themself: In episode 20, Viro has a conflict with herself after having been ordered to kill Cou by her superiors. She sees visions and argues with her darker self in her mind.
- Tamer and Chaster: The anime removes nearly all the Fanservice found in the manga.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: In episode 20, after being ordered to assassinate Cou, Viro poisons the food that she prepared for Cou's friends for dinner, numbing their bodies so they can't interfere in her attempt to kill Cou.
- Toplessness from the Back: In episode 12, Cou imagines a naked Ren in a bathtub, but we only see her bare back.
- Training from Hell: In episode 6, Cisqua puts Cou through rigorous physical training.
- Transformation Sequence: Cou and Ren get one whenever they react and Ren turns into her weapon form.
- Weapon Wields You: Sting Raids can force a reaction with humans and take control of their bodies while they wield their weapon forms.
- Wham Line: Episode 21 ends with one, about Chaos Choir's true nature.Orfus: Lady Eve is the Queen of Edel Garden. Chaos Choir is an organization formed for the purpose of protecting our Queen and creating a world for Edel Raids. In other worlds, Edel Garden and Chaos Choir are one!
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Selena's fate is left unknown. After learning her lover died of old age, she blames Arc Aile for separating them and refuses to go back to the protection facilities. She's last seen after she's been captured by Wolx and given off to a buyer.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: At one point, Cou finds himself on the receiving end of Viro's affections; when he glances at Ren, he notices she has her cold eyes out and immediately assumes she's less than pleased with him (though she's actually only a little chilly). To compensate, he runs off with her to explore the ship everyone is on.
