A year after meeting this enigmatic being, Shintaro decides to try and earn some money by producing music with a voice synthesizer program. Soon after beginning the composition of one song, however, Ene goes out of her way to tease the poor guy and prank him, resulting in a broken keyboard and mouse. Since it was a holiday, he would have to wait two days before he could get a new computer through online shopping... so now he had to choose: Wait and live without internet until the holiday passes, or go outside and buy one himself.
Deciding that there was no way he could survive without internet, he leaves the house for the first time in two years.
Kagerou Daze is a novel series written by song producer Jin(Shizen no Teki-P), and is a part of a series called the Kagerou Project.
- Kagerou Daze -in a daze- (JP May 2012/EN May 2015)
- Kagerou Daze -a headphone actor- (JP September 2012/EN September 2015)
- Kagerou Daze -the children reason- (JP May 2013/EN January 2016)
- Kagerou Daze -the missing children- (JP August 2013/EN July 2016)
- Kagerou Daze -the deceiving- (JP March 2014/EN September 2016)
- Kagerou Daze -over the dimension- (JP March 2015/EN January 2017)
- Kagerou Daze -from the darkness- (JP August 2016/EN July 2017)
- Kagerou Daze -summer time reload- (JP December 2017/EN December 2018)
A manga was published monthly on Comic Gene for a thirteen volume run, and an anime loosely following the events began airing on April 12th, 2014.
Much of the background of the characters in the novel are told in the songs for the series, so it's highly recommended that you check them out.
Please only list down tropes from the novel and manga here. If it refers to the series as a whole, the anime adaptation, or any of the songs, please list them down on their respective pages
Kagerou Daze contains examples of
- Adaptational Badass: In the manga timeline, Hiyori is the one who receives the Focusing Eyes.
- Adaptational Villainy: Hibiya is the vessel of the Clearing Eyes in the manga instead of Kenjirou Tateyama.
- Adorable Evil Minions/Grotesque Cute: Lampshaded by Takane. For the game Haruka and Tateyama-sensei made for the school festival, Haruka drew cute, stuffed-animal looking minions that would splatter blood quite graphically on the screen when shot. Takane comments on how mismatched the effect is when she tries the game out.
- All for Nothing: Despite the Gang's best efforts, they are unable to stop Clearing Eyes from fulfilling its plans. They choose to rewind time, giving the snake exactly what it wants, with the hope that the next loop will have a better outcome.
- Alternate Universe: In the manga after the Cosmic Retcon in chapter 18, we learn that the new universe has differences from the previous one like Hibiya and Hiyori meeting Shintaro and Momo, Konoha already being a member of the Mekakushi Dan and most shockingly, Ayano is not only still alive but apparently she and Shintaro don't know each other. It is later revealed that this is a timeline where Ayano dies together with her mother instead of her father, and the prime timeline where Shintaro gets the Snake of Retaining Eyes.
- Ambiguously Human: Konoha. Turns out that he's technically the once human Haruka Kokonose with a new, artificial body.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: At the end of Headphone Actor, Takane says she loves Haruka.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Almost all of the children with eye powers.
- Big Brother Instinct: Shintaro. He might fight with Momo, but he is very protective of her.
- Big Eater: Haruka, who during the food festival, picked out so much food, each individual one could serve as meals.
- Book Dumb: Momo and Takane.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Shintaro has an IQ of 168. He's also a NEET who spends all his time in his room playing on the computer.
- Butt-Monkey: Shintaro, and chapter 19 revealed Hibiya to be one as well. They both felt sorry for each other.
- Came Back Wrong: Chapter 39 reveals that Hiyori is this by showing her with Kido's corpse, but subverted when Chapter 48 reveals that it was actually Hibiya who came back wrong!
- Cooldown Hug: Seto gives one to a sobbing Kano at the end of the fifth novel, after his rather spectacular breakdown.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Kido is found dead in Chapter 39 of the manga.
- Eating Optional: Gorgons apparently don't need to eat to survive. When Marry first moved in with the Tateyama family, she told them she hadn't eaten in years.
- Everyone Went to School Together: The Yuukei Yesterday and Headphone Actor chapters reveal that Shintaro and Ayano attended school with and were friends (in the latter's case)/acquaintances (in the former's case) with Takane and Haruka. Kido and Kano also show up at the school fair to play against Takane.
- Expressive Hair: Takane's pigtails fly up in shock when she walks in on Haruka half-naked.
- Foreshadowing:
- When Hibiya was sewing his all-new Hiyori doll, he accidentally pricks the back with the needle. During the "Groundhog Day" Loop, this is one of the many deaths the real Hiyori suffers.
- During Chapter 18, after Marry resets time, Shintaro wakes up and notes that he was having a strange dream. This may seem like a typical line for the protagonist of a series involving a "Groundhog Day" Loop, but since The Reveal that his Eye Power is to subconsciously 'record' past routes, it takes on new meaning.
- For Want Of A Nail: The manga has a route where Seto bringing Marry home with him right after meeting her changes many things. In particular:
- Ayaka found Azami's diary in Marry's backpack and was ale to confirm the Medusa legend was true
- Ayano and her parents asked Marry to take them to her old house on August 15, which led to Ayano dying with her parents and entering the Kagerou Daze.
- After learning the truth about Marry, Ayano told her siblings that she had to be killed in order to keep them all safe. The three of them moved out of Ayano's house with Marry, and Ayano's relationship with them is... strained, to put it lightly.
- Ayano dying early means Shintaro never met Ayano, leaving him friendless until he is later hospitalized, meeting Haruka and Takane there instead of the school.
- Hikikomori: Shintaro and Marry.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Momo just wanted to live a normal life without everyone obsessing over her because of her power.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ene, while she is a troll towards Shintaro, she does feel sorry if she feels she's gone too far, and does care for his well-being, as shown as after she was turned into Ene, she went to find Shintaro based on Ayano's words.
- Lady Looks Like a Dude: Shintaro initially thought that Kido was a guy.
- Mayfly–December Romance: Azami with Tsukihiko which started the whole mess. She realized that Tsukihiko was aging and she grew scared of outliving him and their daughter Shion. This fear and desire to live with her family forever allowed Azami to be deceived by the Clearing Eyes Snake.
- Ms. Exposition: Ayano acted like this due to her powers, explaining how the Kagerou Daze was created and why they have these powers.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: Shintaro did not react well when Kano seemed to be asking Seto what he thought of Momo.
- In the novels Kano wasn't too happy about the idea that Ayano might have a boyfriend.
- No Social Skills: Shintaro is very socially inept at first due to being a hikikomori.
- Not What It Looks Like: When Takane helps the absent-minded Haruka redress after she found him in their classroom wearing nothing but his underwear, their teacher walks in on them and completely misinterprets the situation in an inappropriate manner.
- Oblivious to Love: Shintaro didn't realize that Hibiya liked Hiyori.
- Race for Your Love: Takane ran for Haruka (who had been hospitalized) to tell him her feelings before the world would end. Sadly, she didn't make it.
- "Ray of Hope" Ending: The final volume of the light novel ends with all of the characters but Marry, Seto, and Hibiya trapped in the Kagerou Daze and deciding to reset the world, which they acknowledge is what the Clearing Eyes snake wanted. However, Shintaro has a feeling he'll remember everything next time, hinting at the ending to Mekakucity Actors.
- Relative Error: Hiyori initially mistakes Shintaro for Momo's boyfriend, not knowing they're siblings.
- School Festival: Takane, Haruka and Kenjirou had been preparing for this throughout the "Yuukei Yesterday" chapters.
- Shapeshifter Guilt Trip: Directly after Ayano jumps off the school roof, Kano, taking on her form after pretending to be her dead body, runs into Shintaro. Hurt, angry, and scared, he blames Shintaro for what happened, saying "It's all your fault for never noticing anything." Of course Shintaro has no idea that it's not the real Ayano, and may be a big reason that he became a shut in for two years. There's another example in an earlier novel involving Kano turning into Momo and Ayano, though it's left vague if it's real or a dream. The 7th novel confirms it to have been real.
- Shipper on Deck: Momo for Hibiya and Hiyori.
- Slasher Smile: Kuro Konoha gives a good one in chapter 18.
- Sleep Cute: Shintaro and Momo pretend to do this to fool their mother into thinking that they didn't come home late and hide Hibiya under Shintaro's bed sheets.
- Terrorists Without a Cause: The terrorists that take over the mall that Shintaro was in.
- Took a Level in Kindness: After the Cosmic Retcon, Shintaro is generally nicer than the previous universe, being much more willing to help others. This of course makes sense with his powers.
- Troll: Ene towards Shintaro and Kano in general.
- Tsundere:
- Ene, when she still was Takane, was this towards Haruka.
- Kido as a child, especially around Kano.
- Azami towards Tsukihiko.
