Literature / Strike the Blood

The Fourth Progenitor—That's the world's strongest vampire that should only exist in legends. Accompanied by twelve Familiars and spreading chaos and mayhem, this phantom vampire has now appeared in Japan. In order to deal with potential threat, the government and the Lion King decided to dispatch a Sword Shaman to keep an eye on him, and kill him if he becomes a threat. However, for some reason, the one chosen for the observation was an apprentice Sword Shaman girl, Himeragi Yukina. Wielding the strongest anti-progenitor spirit spear, Yukina arrived at Demon District, Itogami City. What will she find when she encounters the Fourth Progenitor, Akatsuki Kojou?!

Strike the Blood is a Japanese Light Novel series by Gakuto Mikumo with illustrations by Manyako, which was published under the Dengeki Bunko label from 2011 to 2020 for 22 volumes (plus three volumes of side stories). A manga adaptation was serialized in ASCII Media Works's Dengeki Daioh magazine from 2012 to 2016. A 24-episode television anime adaptation by Silver Link and Connect began broadcast as a part of the Fall 2013 season. Two OVA episodes of the Kingdom of Valkyria arc were released on November 25 2015 and December 23 2015. Another OVA series titled Strike the Blood II was released between November 23, 2016 and May 24, 2017, with a total of eight episodes. Another OVA series titled Strike the Blood III was released from December 19, 2018 to September 25, 2019 for a total of ten episodes. Another OVA titled Strike the Blood: Kieta Seisō-hen was released on January 29, 2020. A fourth OVA series, Strike the Blood IV was released from April 2020 to June 2021. Lastly, the fifth and final OVA season, helpfully titled Strike the Blood Final, was released from March to July 2022.

Crunchyroll is streaming the anime, and can be viewed here by people living in the following areas: North America, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Scandinavia, South Africa, Central America, South America, Caribbean, Turkey, Italy, Austria, Germany, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Belgium, Poland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania. It will be released on DVD by Discotek Media as part of a sub-license deal with Crunchyroll.

Both the light novel and its manga adaptation are published in English by Yen Press.

Yukina was chosen to represent Strike The Blood in the crossover Fighting Game Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax by Sega, with Koujou Akatsuki as one of the support characters.

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Strike the Blood provides examples of:

• Accidental Pervert: Kojou frequently ends up this, especially toward Yukina. Her typical reaction is what you would expect from a Tsundere.
• Aggressive Submissive: Roughly half of the female Love Interests are this. Yukina, Sayaka and Asagi are clear Tsundere-type love interests that antagonize Kojou and kick the ass of anyone who hurts their friends, but the moment Kojou takes aggressive sexual action, they pretty much lean back and let him do whatever he wants. Asagi, especially, seems to want Kojou to take her virginity forcefully. Kanon, La Folia, Yuuma are the exceptions, as they aren't very aggressive although clearly interested.
• Anti-Magic: Aya Tokoyogi casts a spell that negates all spells and superhuman abilities other than her own at the end of episode 18. Which is bad for Kojou as that means he can't use his healing powers either after he's stabbed by the former's familiar.
• Anti-Villain:
  • As mentionned by the protagonists Rudolf Eustach had a perfectly understandable and justified goal; the problem was the extreme he was ready to go through to do it.
  • Kanase Kensei can also be seen as a Type 3; He genuinely believed that he could give Kanon happiness by letting her ascend to angelhood, and that she at the same time could prove a powerful force against a future threat.
• Arc Words: "That's enough for me." Spoken to Kojou on occasion by a girl whom he has just complimented or otherwise said something to bolster her esteem.
• Babies Ever After:
  • Several of the women aboard Vatler's ship in episode 18 suggest this with Kojou. He immediately declines.
  • In episode 23, a time-traveling girl strongly resembling Yukina but with Kojou's eyes shows up. She also says some rather unusual things, such as calling Nagisa "aunt", and wonders if Yukina's nagging started at this point in time. She also demonstrates that she can quickly recover from injuries that would've been fatal for humans, and can summon a spear that looks like a golden version of Yukina's, and only stops short of saying she's their daughter due to Natsuki's interruption.
• Badass Adorable: All of the female cast are adorable, but this is especially the case for Astarte, Yume, Glenda and Nagisa, who are the youngest of the bunch. Played with in the case of Natsuki, as she is actually an adult, who only appears to be a cute young girl.
• Balanced Harem: The main heroine Yukina is at the top, but Asagi, Sayaka and La Folia have decent development and screentime; Asagi barely edges out the lead amongst the three of them, with La Folia being next in line despite following Sayaka in appearance. Since Kojou needs several blood donors to summon and control familiars, all the girls get intimate moments with Kojou. Also, it's standard for a Progenitor to have a Vampire's Harem and indeed, time travel confirms Kojou will have a kid with more than one girl in the harem.
• Bedmate Reveal:
  • During The Labyrinth of the Blue Witch arc, a naked Sayaka wakes up to find herself sharing a bed with a naked La Folia. Hilarity Ensues.
    "Good morning, Sayaka. You were wonderful last night..."
  • Asagi does this to Kojou in episode 6. When he wakes up, she's leaning on top of him. He responds by trying to fall back asleep, then asks her what she's plotting.
• Big Bad: The overall villain of the entire story, whom the Fourth Progenitor has been created by the Tengu to defeat is Cain, the Father of Demons.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • Kojou saves Yukina in episode 2 when Astarte begins to gain the upper hand against her.
  • Kojou and Yukina do this to save Kanon in episode 12.
  • Astarte saves Asagi and Sana from Kiliga in episode 17.
  • Vatler does this for the two after Gigliora shows up and attempts to take out Astarte. However, whether it's this trope or Villainous Rescue is debatable, since Vatler was mostly doing it because he wanted to see some action, rather than out of the kindness of his heart.
• Big "NO!": Yukina lets one out at the end of episode 3, after Kojou intercepts an axe-blow from Eustach, and gets decapitated for his efforts.
• Blood Knight: Christoph Gardos loves the thrill of war so much that he is trying to cause a war just for this reason.
• Blood-Splattered Innocents: Kojou's blood splatters on half of Yukina's face in episode 3 after he intercepts Eustach's axe attack intended for her.
• Breather Episode:
  • Episode 5. While there is some action, it's not nearly as intense as in the previous two, and there are some lighthearted comedy scenes at school.
  • Episode 9 starts off with some wacky high school hijinks, following yet another intense battle from the previous episode.
• Calling Your Attacks: Par for the course of any action series.
• Censor Steam: Used in episode 18 when Kojou is taking a bath aboard Vatler's ship, along with Asagi and Sana.
• Child Soldier: Lion King's members like Yukina are all orphans who have been recruited from young age and formed to serve as weapons.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Yukina gets this the most. Asagi and Sayaka also have their moments.
• Conservation of Ninjutsu:
  • When Kojou first faces off against a Nalakuvera, he has some difficulty with it. But once Christoph Gardos hops into the queen one, along with controlling several others, the heroes don't have much difficulty defeating them.
  • The various prison inmates that escape in "Fiesta of the Observers" arc are certainly a threat, but as a whole, they're defeated rather easily compared to when it's just one villain attacking.
    • Interestingly, Aya Tokoyogi, the Villain of the Week, makes short work of both Kojou and Sayaka, and kidnaps both Sana and Yukina at the end of episode 18.
• Contrived Coincidence: In episode 17, Kojou, Sayaka, and Yukina discuss figuring out where Natsuki went. They then see Asagi on the television watching the Halloween Festa parade, and she just happens to be holding the hands of a little girl who strongly resembles Natsuki.
• Costume Porn: The animators love giving Yukina a change of clothes, sometimes several per episode. No other character in the series gets as many costume changes. In addition to her School Uniform(s), she's been shown dressed in: underwear, cheerleader uniform, party dress, yukata, birthday suit, Kojou's hoodie, maid costume, nurse outfit and gym uniform. Cop, cowboy, construction worker and Indian chief are probably left for the next season.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Kojou isn't exactly stupid, but he is rather laid-back, lazy and generally lacking any drive or motivation in his daily life; definitely not what you would expect from one of the most powerful vampires in the setting.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Happens on several occasions.
  • Typically Kojou and Yukina will be on the receiving end of one, but shortly afterwards the situation changes in their favor, and they end up dishing one out to the Villain of the Week.
  • At the beginning of episode 16, Vatler is taken out by a tiny girl, Avrora using Nagisa's body. She gives him a warning and then leaves.
  • Astarte takes out Kiliga rather easily once she shows up in episode 17.
• Cute Bruiser: Yukina; see Badass Adorable further up.
• Cuteness Proximity: Yukina when she sees the stray cats Kanon and Nagisa were attempting to find homes for.
• Damsel in Distress: Yukina suffers from this in episode 19.
• Deus Sex Machina: Toned down; Kojou's Blood Lust apparently activates through sexual arousal, meaning he needs to be aroused to suck blood and can lose control whenever it happens. However, it usually just takes fairly modest fanservice (such as panty or skin exposure from a girl) to get a reaction from him, so no real sex has been involved so far.
• Did You Just Have Sex?:
  • When both Kojou and Asagi show up at school complaining about not getting enough sleep, Orin teases them about the possible reason.
  • In Episode 21, Asagi wakes up in Kojou's bed half-naked and starts to cry when she ponders what might have happened. She's disappointed when Kojou tells her the truth.
  • As per usual, played with due to Kiss of the Vampire:
    • Whenever Kojou shows up with a new familiar, Yukina is quick to question how he got it.
    • In Episode 19, Sayaka shows up to the final battle with her blouse buttoned wrong, which Yukina bitterly points out to her.
  • A very straightforward example the OVA, where the Big Bad villainess places Kojou under her control with Pheromones and later takes Yukina and La Folia hostage. She forces the mind-controlled Kojou to dote on her, and then notices that doing so is making Yukina jealous. Just as a Take That!, she then orders Kojou to Bridal Carry her into the bedroom. We never see what happened afterwards, and not knowing greatly bothers Yukina.
• Disproportionate Retribution:
  • Stated to be this, in-universe. Kojou has to stop Himeragi from brutalizing some guys after they flipped her skirt. However, it's worth noting that she politely asked them to leave her alone and attempted to step past them several times. She only struck out at them after they grabbed her and pretty much yelled out "Where are you going, bitch?" Out-of-universe, no woman in her right mind would consider this "disproportionate".
  • Played straight anytime Yukina hits Kojou for any acts of perversion, real or perceived. Even if it was entirely accidental.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Kojou gets hit with this from time to time, such as in episode 21 when Nina asks for his help while inside Asagi's nearly naked body. He agrees but asks her to put on some clothing.
• Does Not Like Men: Kirasaka, to the point she can't even stand their contact.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?:
  • Vampires who have never fed on human blood are referred as "virgins".
  • During Kiss of the Vampire scenes, the girls say things like, "Not there, it hurts" or "Not so rough".
  • When Kojou is ready to feed on Sayaka the second time, she nervously says, "I'm not ready! I haven't even showered yet...!"
  • At the climax of the Empire of the Dawn arc, Kojou is feeding especially... energetically from Yukina, and her reaction is equally... energetic. Everyone present for this is looking around awkwardly, as if witnessing a couple passionately making out.
  • See That Came Out Wrong, below.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Despite the fact that Kojou is an immortal monster who can literally wipe an entire city off the map with incredible ease, a surprising number of people seem to think it's a good idea to fight him. Justified in that he's still coming into his power, and that he's only able to win most of his fights with help due to inexperience.
• Elegant Gothic Lolita: Natsuki
• Enemy Mine: Asagi and Sayaka are forced to work together to locate and rescue Kojou and Yukina in episode 10. Both of them are distrustful of the other, due to their relations and connections with him.
• Erotic Eating: Mimori Akatsuki eating a popsicle rather suggestively in episode 16.
• Fake First Kiss: Yukina has her first kiss with Kojou because Kojou is a vampire whose powers only activate with sexual arousal (although Yukina also in love with him, but denies it). During the incident in question, the two of them are trapped underneath layers of ice and facing certain death along with the astonishingly-beautiful La Folia. La Folia (who is also hot for Kojou tries to kiss him to get Kojou's power to awaken, but Yukina stops her and does it in her stead.
• False Flag Operation: The "Free Terrorists" movement in the OVA tried to use one of Aldegyr's battleship to crash the peace conference between Aldegyr and Warlord's Dominion. Based on La Folia's words, seems like the terrorist group was secretly backed up by North Sea Empire.
• Fanservice: Used on occasion throughout the show. The camera will sometimes pan and scan the particular female during that scene.
• Fantastic Racism: The various supernatural races... don't get along. Because of their sheer age and power most Vampires look down both on humans and a subset of Vampires called Nosferatu who can't materialise Beast Vassals. There are also mentions of both Beast-men and Human Supremacist groups.
• First Girl Wins: Asagi and Yukina are the first two female characters shown having significant interaction with Kojou. Come Strike the Blood EX, it's confirmed that he's married to both of them.
• Foregone Conclusion: The "Empire Of The Dawn" arc reveals that Kojou and Yukina will indeed get married and have a child. Moreover it also establishes that during the next 20 years Itogami Island will become a sovereign nation under Kojou's rule. The Stinger also reveals that Yukina is not the only woman to bear his child.
• Foreshadowing: At the start of the Labyrinth of the Blue Witch arc, Natsuki is seen dressing in the middle school girl's uniform, in order to catch a groper on the monorail. At the end of the arc Natsuki is transformed into a little girl for real by a spell from the Witch of the Notaria.
• "Freaky Friday" Flip: Happens to Yuuma and Kojou in episode 13.
• Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Despite being a Person of Mass Destruction and one of the most powerful vampires in the world, Kojou is in no way evil, and satisfies his Blood Lust by drinking his own blood. In fact, when he became the Fourth Progenitor, his first idea of how to use his powers was to try to make the world a better place by focusing on Asshole Victims, but he gave up on it and settled on trying to keep a normal life.
• Gecko Ending: The "Empire of the Dawn" arc is exclusive to the anime and makes up its ending. While it shows a glimpse of the far future the status quo is ultimately maintained, allowing for a possible second season to pick up where the anime left off.
• The Glomp: Sayaka does this to Yukina in episode 6, while simultaneously pushing Kojou away from her.
• Godiva Hair: Asagi in episode 21.
• G-Rated Sex: One of the recurring gimmicks of the show. Vampire bites carry the same implications as sex. For example, a person who provides blood to a vampire becomes "blood-bonded", and being bitten on "unsafe days" can cause one to become a vampire. Possibly because of these facts, Kojou never bites or drains the blood of any person who doesn't want it—even an enemy. Furthermore, the interactions between Kojou and his "blood partners" during the bloodsucking invokes sexual imagery and eroticism. Other people who observe it also react the same way most would when watching a couple having sex.
• Gory Discretion Shot: Averted for the most part.
  • In episode 3, Yukina can be seen gripping Kojou's head when it detaches from his body after taking Eustach's axe attack.
  • Eustach slices a demon in episode 2, with his chest wound visibly shown onscreen. In episode 4, he walks by the bodies of guards after Astarte dispatches them.
• Grand Theft Me: Koujou gets his body stolen by Yuuma when she kisses him. This also leave Koujou stuck in a girl's body.
• Gratuitous Italian: Kojou does this in episode 1 to fool Yukina into thinking he's someone else.
• Ham-to-Ham Combat: Asagi and Sayaka do this in episode 10.
• Harem Seeker: Both a Discussed Trope and Invoked Trope. Apparently, due to their immense power, charisma, and status, Progenitors are supposed to be this. The central axis of the plot is the appearance of a random Progenitor (Kojou) in Japan, which makes everyone around nervous about what he's going to do. Kojou himself wants no part of it, but everyone else around him from the Lion King Organization, to his own Familiars, to other vampires, continue to force this onto him. It's especially telling when there's a familiar that requires the blood of two people to work. he forcibly marries (without consent) the first 10 girls the 11th girl (who he gets his kenjuu and the last girl, he makes an Aguished Declarationof Love to and Yukina's insecurities about her current conditions make her reject him.
• Hate at First Sight:
  • Sayaka and Asagi. When they first meet, the former was beating up Kojou, who was suspicious of what he was doing with the latter. When they see each other again in episode 10, they immediately get into an argument again regarding Kojou. Poor Yaze is forced to be the peacekeeper as a result.
  • Nagisa isn't too fond of Sayaka either for similar reasons. So when they see each other in episode 17, she immediately questions the latter's relationship with her brother. Kojou uses this opportunity to get Nagisa away, and pushes Sayaka towards Nagisa, who promptly leads her out of the room for further questioning on said relationship.
• Hates Being Touched: Kirasaka, though only by men. She appears to be able to make an exception with Kojou eventually.
• Hero Stole My Bike: In episode 17, Yukina slashes the chain off a bike at a convenience store after the half-track they were using runs out of gas. She says they'll apologize to the owner later on.
• Hotter and Sexier: The OVA and Season II are both much less heavily censored than the first season.
• Idiot Ball: Episode 20, Kojou urges Asagi to leave the monastery right away but she wastes time complaining how she needs to find the earring she lost. When Kojou tells her he'll buy her replacement earrings, she wastes even more time asking what kind he'll buy.
• Ignore the Fanservice: For someone so frequently accused of being a pervert, Kojou is hilariously indifferent and oblivious when Asagi actually tries to seduce him.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Kojou does this for Kanon to help bring her back when she nearly lost the remnant of her humanity.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Happens twice in episode 15:
  • The first time is with Yukina stabbing Yuuma while the latter is possessing Kojou's body.
  • The second time happens as The Stinger, when Yuuma and Natsuki both get stabbed by Yuuma's guardian, who's being controlled by her mother.
  • Kojou suffers one in episode 18 by Aya's familiar.
• Insecure Love Interest: Almost every girl in the show fits this, especially when comparing themselves to one-another. Several times, when Kojou attempts to refuse drinking her blood, a girl will say something like, "Do you not find me attractive?"/"Am I not as pretty as [other girl]?", guilting Kojou into feeding on her.
• In the Hood: Kojou's favourite way to dress.
• Insistent Terminology: Natsuki hates it when the affectionate suffix of "-chan" (IE. "My cute little Natsuki") is added to her name. As she often has to say...
  It's Natsuki-sensei.
• Intimate Healing: Yuuma licks Kojou's finger after he cuts it from picking up the broken glass cup he dropped in episode 13.
• Kiss of the Vampire: Played with; although still undeniably erotic as per usual with this trope, instead of an invasive rape-metaphor, the scenes in the Anime where Kojou partakes in the blood of his love interests are portrayed as surprisingly tender and heartwarming moments of sincere bond, trust and friendship. The gentle and romantic piano music used in said scenes really helps.
• Lens Flare Censor: Used in the broadcast version of Episode 11 to cover Yukina and La Folia's lower halves.
• Little Sister Heroine: There have been small hints that Nagisa harbors romantic feelings for Kojou. At one point, she laments that she's too old to bathe with him and, more strongly, she makes sexual advances towards him while under Yume's influence—and Yume later ssays that her powers only enhance someone's deepest desires. For his own part, Kojou's overprotectiveness of/devotion to Nagisa often gets him accused of having a sister complex, particularly in the light novels.
• Loophole Abuse: Yuuma uses this in episode 19 to help Kojou regain his powers, since Aya Tokoyogi's powers weren't affected by the Anti-Magic spell. And since Yuuma is a clone of hers, it won't affect her powers either...
• Love Letter Lunacy: Invoked a couple of times:
  • The first is in episode 5, when Asagi catches Kojou holding a letter with Yukina showing off a Luminescent Blush. She immediately interprets it as this trope and runs off.
  • In episode 9, Kojou and Yukina spot Nagisa talking to a boy and receiving what the latter thinks is a love letter. He doesn't take it too well when Yukina says that Nagisa is popular with the boys, and later on follows her to the school rooftop. They hear some rather suggestive sounding dialogue, then open the door, to find out they were just talking about a cat.
• Male Gaze: Used occasionally throughout, such as when Kojou stares at Sayaka's chest in episode 8 after the latter has gotten wet.
• Make Some Noise: Yaze's powers allow him to control sound.
• Marry Them All: The final volume reveals he's married to 12 girls.
• Mistaken for Gay: Asagi asks what may appear to be an Armor-Piercing Question regarding his status as a vampire, but instead she asks if he's into men, due to his apparent lack of interest in the various girls around him, along with being on somewhat too friendly terms with Vatler. Later, after he shakes the hand of one of Vatler's butlers, Asagi asks this again.
• Monster/Slayer Romance: Kojou is the Fourth Progenitor vampire and Yukina is a Sword Shaman sent to observe and potentially eliminate him should she deem him dangerous.
• Naughty Nurse Outfit: Yukina wears one in the "Fiesta For the Observers" arc. Mostly because Kojou's mother, Mimori, made her wear it to help to stabilize Yuuma after the latter was stabbed. While it's a fairly normal looking outfit, Kojou mentions that she looks really good in it.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
  • Christoph Gardos forces Asagi to unlock the manual needed to activate and control the Nalakuvera. And he does it by giving her access to the latest supercomputer. Fortunately for the heroes, she puts her Playful Hacker skills to good use, and installs a self-destruct program on the otherwise Nigh-Invulnerable warmachines as well.
  • In episode 19, Aya Tokoyogi creates a barrier that negates all superpowers and magical abilities on the island, except for her own. Yuuma then exploits this to help Kojou recover, since she's a clone of Aya, so therefore her magical abilities aren't affected either.
• Ninja Maid: Astarte is made this by Natsuki after she is placed under her service.
• Nosebleed: Kojou has one whenever he gets sexually aroused. Interestingly, he takes advantage on it by drinking the resulting blood, such satisfying his own blood lust without having to harm anyone.
• Not What It Looks Like: Kojou is often in these sorts of situations, such as when he accidentally knocks Asagi off his bed in episode 6, and falls on top of her. Naturally Nagisa and Yukina both walk in at the same time, wondering what's taking her so long to wake him up.
• An Offer You Can't Refuse:
  • Chistoph Gardos makes one to Asagi in episode 7 since she was the only one out of a hundred and fifty hackers to solve the puzzle they sent her. He then tells her that they need her help to be able to control the Nalakuvera super weapon. Right now, they only know how to activate it... which they do anyway. Now Asagi must decipher the ancient text and give this terrorist organization a means to control an unstoppable killing machine, otherwise it'll just run amok, possibly threatening the lives of everyone on the island.
  • Vatler tells Kojou in episode 17 to bring Sana aboard his boat. While his intentions are certainly suspicious, he tells Kojou that he can come as well, and that the prison inmates that escaped will still likely try to kill her. So it would be best if they were away from the city to minimize collateral damage. Kojou accepts it, but Asagi forces him to take her as well.
• Off with His Head!: Kojou at one point gets his head brutally hacked off while attempting to save Himeragi. He gets better quite fast.
• Older Than They Look: Natsuki looks like a grade schooler despite being 26.
• Oh, Crap!: Yaze has this reaction in episode 10 shortly after he runs into Sayaka at the ruined church. He was trying to make a deal with her to find Kojou and Yukina, but then hears Asagi and Nagisa approaching, and isn't able to stop them from running into each other. A big Ham-to-Ham Combat ensues between Asagi and Sayaka after they meet.
• One Dialogue, Two Conversations: In episode 8, Sayaka asks Kojou about "being big". He says they are, but then mentions that some guys like it big. She then clarifies that she was referring to her height.
• One-Man Army: According to Yukina, becoming the Fourth Progenitor made Kojou the equivalent of several armies put together.
• Our Vampires Are Different:
  • Sunlight doesn't affect them, they have Superpowered Familiars inside of them, and apparently, they're immortal.
  • Later volumes of the novels also introduce additional types. The first are "Ghouls" or "Nosferatu", less human looking Vampires who don't possess Beast Vassals but gain the ability to transform parts of their bodies into living weapons and a generally looked down on by regular vampires. There are also Blood Vassals, humans transformed into pseudo-vampires by grafting a regular vampire's flesh into their body, similar to what Kojou did to Astarte but more permanent.
• Our Werebeasts Are Different/Our Demons Are Different: Demons in this series (sometimes translated as Therianthrops) are portrayed as werebeasts.
• Peace Conference: In the OVA, it happened between Aldegyr and Warlord's Dominion. Good thing that it succeeded.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Kojou, by virtue of being the Fourth Progenitor.
• Playful Hacker: Asagi is a skilled computer expert.
• Pose of Supplication: Yukina subjects Kojou to these a lot to reflect on his perverted acts. Especially if they were accidental and entirely out of his control.
• Precocious Crush: Several of the girls crushing on Kojou are middle-school age. And two of the youngest are Astarte and Yume, who are grade-schoolers. Yume even asks Kojou to "wait" for her.
• Precursors: The Devas, an ancient race of superhumans who helped the original Three Progenitors create the Fourth Progenitor.
• Primal Fear: Nagisa goes into hysterics whenever an untransformed demon appears.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Kojou's eyes ordinary are blue, but they turn red whenever he uses his vampiric abilities.
• Rei Ayanami Expy: Astarte, especially after her Heel–Face Turn.
• Romance Ensues: A constant for this show, to the level of Once An Arc. It only stops short of being story-stopping due to Kiss of the Vampire being used in place of actual sex.
  • When Kojou and Yukina are defeated and try to figure out how to gain an advantage over the Combat Deacon, she suggests he take her blood and awaken a familiar.
  • When Kojou and Sayaka are trapped in a chamber that will drown them in a matter of time, she suggests he take her blood and awaken a familiar.
  • When Kojou, Yukina and La Folia are trapped in ice with murderous villains surrounding them on the outside, La Folia suggests that he take her blood and awaken a Familiar. Yukina stops her and offers herself in her stead, but after she's asleep, La Folia is right back on it.
  • When Kojou and Sayaka are alone after Kojou is mortally wounded by Aya, she suggests that he take her blood to heal. When she fails, Yuuma arrives and suggests the same thing using both their blood. When Kojou doesn't heal, he realizes he needs to awaken a familiar.
• Scream Discretion Shot: Typically used when Kojou is being punished for being a pervert, or rather Yukina thinks he's being one. Anything dealt in these situations is always Played for Laughs.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: Kojou and Yukina repeatedly deny being a couple despite their obvious closeness and romantic attraction.
• Shock and Awe:
  • A fair bit of it, coupled with Yellow Lightning, Blue Lightning. Kojou has his "Regulas Aurum" Familiar, a giant lion made of (yellow) lightning, whereas Yukina has two spells that enhance physical attacks with (blue) lightning. Her spear also generates what seems to be electricity when it pierces something as well.
  • Subverted with Sayaka, then played straight: Her chant when using her magical arrows invokes a "god of thunder", but at first, only nullifies magic. Later, with the same incantation, she does indeed call down a barrage of (blue) lightning bolts.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man:
  • Yukina states that the reason her opinion changes about Kojou early on is because of his Nice Guy demeanor, and later says that his tendency to worry about others despite his own imminent danger is what she likes about him.
  • La Folia's interest in Kojou piques when he shows concern over Kanase Kanon's endangerment. Specifically, at the exact time he makes it clear that he intends to save her before her mind breaks down completely, she literally throws herself at him. At several times, she asks that he prove she's "not wrong about [him]".
  • Kanon first shows interest in Kojou after he pays her a compliment and helps her find homes for some kittens she'd been looking after. He later saves her life as well.
  • Yuuma likes Kojou because his words and actions help her feel like a real person rather than a tool programmed to do someone else's will. When he hits her with a Kirk Summation at one point, she says that his ability to say the right thing so easily is what she's always liked about him.
  • Yume falls for Kojou when he stops her from an elaborate suicide attempt due to the misery her succubus powers force upon her. He passionately proclaims that he will destroy anything that ever makes her unhappy ever again, which she chooses to interpret to mean "I will make you happy forever".
• Single-Stroke Battle: Yukina and Christoph Gardos in episode 8. She slices off his right arm, and declares the battle over. He agrees, but only because he still has Asagi and Nagisa hostage, as well as an army of Nalakuvera now.
• Skewed Priorities: It seems the girls in the show are usually more concerned with the other girls around Kojou, than the fact that there may be weird things happening, or a villain attacking the city.
  • Sayaka gets into a Ham-to-Ham Combat debate with Asagi when they first run into each other in episode 10. Even after they locate where Kojou and Yukina are, they once again get into an argument about the other's relationship to him.
  • When Kojou is first subjected to the random teleportation in episode 13, he unintentionally winds up in Yukina's bathroom where Astarte and Kanon are taking a bath. Yukina is much more obsessed that he saw the two girls naked, than the fact that he was afflicted with the same teleportation that Sayaka and La Folia went through.
  • Nagisa gets extremely suspicious of Sayaka as well, wondering what her relationship with her brother is exactly. Never mind that Yuuma is dying on the couch in the room during that particular encounter. Possibly justified, though, in that the three times Nagisa has run into her, something bad has happened to one of Nagisa's friends, so she has good reason to demand answers.
• Sorting Algorithm of Evil: The villains who attack throughout the show gradually threaten more and more of the city, and usually forces Kojou to obtain a new power to defeat them.
• Spit Take: Kojou does one in episode 21 after Asagi, who was taking a bath in his apartment, goes out of the bathroom while still naked.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Several characters make use of this, showing up out of nowhere a lot of times. While it is utilized by the villains occasionally, it's more often played for comedic effect when Kojou says or does something around one girl, causing another girl to show up and put some Clingy Jealous Girl retribution on him.
• The Stinger: At the end of episode 15, it seems all is well with Yuuma and Kojou. Then her guardian stabs her and Natsuki.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: In episode 10, Yaze makes a deal with Sayaka. In exchange for her not telling Kojou and Yukina what his true identity is, he'd tell her where Kojou was. She blushes, looks away, and vehemently denies wanting to hear anything about that. When he also mentions Yukina, she seems to change her tune, although Asagi and Nagisa approaching the ruined church interrupts the deal.
• Taken for Granite: Happens to the Nalakuvera in episode 8.
• Talking Is a Free Action:
  • In episode 8, Yukina is explaining to Kojou and Sayaka about a new command Asagi threw into the Nalakuvera and how to destroy them. Christoph Gardos is polite enough to hold his forces back and not attack them while she's doing it.
  • The Meyer witches also kindly wait for Sayaka and La Folia to finish their description of former's familiar, which is giving them a lot of problems. Once the two figure out how its nature, they exploit its weakness to defeat them.
• Teamwork Seduction: Justified Trope. Protagonist Kojou Akatsuki is a vampire whose powers only work if he drinks other peoples' blood, and vampiric bloodlust is akin to actual sexual lust, meaning he has to be turned on to drink blood. So this trope happens twice.
  • On one occasion, a familiar turns out to need two peoples' blood to work properly, so when one girl fails to do it alone, the other steps up to the plate as well.
  • On the second occasion, this trope is fully invoked, both because a single girl can't arouse the dying Kojou enough to save his life, and because only one of them has blood immune to the Anti-Magic field preventing his powers from awakening. So it takes one girl to restore his powers and the other to slake his thirst.
• Tempting Fate: In episode 9, Valter asks Natsuki not to let Kojou get involved in the current situation, since he believes the latter wouldn't stand a chance against the new Villain of the Week. Naturally, this assures that he will get involved.
• Thanks for the Mammaries:
  • Kojou accidentally does this in episode 8 after Sayaka slips on some rubble and falls back on him.
  • Mimori does this to Yuuma in episode 16. When Yukina inquires about it, the former says that fondling the breasts of cute girls is what activates her powers. Kojou immediately calls his mother out on this.
  • Kojou trips again on Sayaka in episode 22, made even worse since he thought he was fondling the shikigami made by Yukina's master.
• That Came Out Wrong: Sigh... What sweet and innocent little Yukina-chan tried to say to Kojou was "His bite didn't hurt too much, she didn't lose too much blood, it was a safe-day on the astrological cycle and hence the tests for her becoming a vampire came back negative. But paraphrased by Asagi who overheard the exchange, it came out as:
  Asagi: "So you didn't hurt her too much, she lost a little blood, but it was a "safe day" so her "test" came back negative, huh?"
• The Call Knows Where You Live: Kojou honestly has no specific ambition or goal beyond "being left alone", but people keep coming in his life due to his status and end up bringing him into supernatural situations.
• Those Two Guys: Invoked and Played for Laughs in episode 13. When Kojou is waiting for his childhood friend Yuuma to arrive, Asagi and Yaze show up uninvited as well. Yaze says that Kojou can just consider them "passers-by". So when Yuuma does show up, that's exactly how Kojou introduces them as.
• Top Wife: In the OVA, La Folia is the first girl to propose to Kojou and claims to have no issues at all with Kojou's relationships with other women. However, when the subject of polygamy is raised, she brazenly offers Yukina the position of "second wife", though Yukina is without a doubt at the top of the food chain. This is later confirmed in Season 3, after accidentally Yukina becomes Kojou's "blood mate" after volunteering her blood one too many times. At that point, she becomes practically locked in as his number one spouse (although she and Asagi are still in competition) and La Folia seems to be satisfied with accepting a position as his concubine. Averted in the final volume as there is no heirarchy and kojou outright considers them his wives as hanryo aka companion is the female equivalent to wife in a vampires harem
• Troperiffic: Totally. An Ordinary High-School Student blessed with the blood of the world's most powerful vampire teaming up with a cute Action Girl in order to fight powerful enemies threatening the fragile peace of their everyday lives, with a lot of action and magic tropes thrown in, as well as a few dashes of Fanservice and Harem Genre. Just looking at the character sheet's length is enough to give you a cue.
• Vegetarian Vampire: Kojou initially, in that he feeds on his own blood rather than drink others. It's the main reason why his familiars don't follow his orders.
• Wham Episode:
  • Episode 3 has a particularly brutal one. During their fight with Villain of the Week Eustach, Yukina is on the receiving end of a Curb-Stomp Battle. As Eustach raises his axe for a final blow against her, Kojou intercepts it. While it saves Yukina, Kojou gets decapitated for his efforts.
  • In episode 18, Kojou's familiar is banished, he's stabbed by Aya's familiar, and both Sana and Yukina are taken hostage.
  • At the end of episode 20, Asagi gets slashed from the front badly enough that Kojou thinks she's dead. However, she survives due to the intervention of a new character, who heals Asagi and hijacks her body.
• What Did I Do Last Night?: The entire plot of the Missing Lance OVA. Turns out it was caused by Kojou accidentally putting magic mushrooms in their hot pot. Intoxication and harem hijinks ensued.
• Worst Aid: Yuuma is stabbed with a massive sword by her mother. Kojou and Yukina do not put pressure on the wound, or make any effort to stop the blood. When they take her to Kojou's mother for treatment, she delays the treatment further to catch up with Kojou, and fondle Yuuma's breasts. It's astonishing that the poor girl survives.

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