Chiyo Aragaki — who goes by the stage name Dimity Red — is a J-Pop artist with a massive following. Capable of Ki Manipulation, she uses it to great effect whenever she performs on stage. After a successful concert in Tokyo, she is slated to begin a worldwide tour in Los Angeles — her first-ever overseas performance, and she even composed a song in English just for the occasion. Her star is rising in the music industry, and she is optimistic about her career.
Until she gets murdered.
Ripped from the familiar landscape of Earth, she finds herself in the Lesser Heaven, a purgatory-like realm beset by demons. In this strange land, she uses her ki powers to rescue a group of Puritans, only for them to declare her a witch and imprison her afterward. But one of the Puritans, a young man named Mash Marston, has taken an interest in her. Dimity must now earn the Puritans' trust and defeat the demonic enemy.
Such is the tale of Sword & Flower.
This work uses the following tropes:
- Action Girl: With ki powers and a high pain tolerance, Dimity is good to have around in a fight.
- Beam-O-War: Happens when Dimity fights the Centurion.
- Big Bad: The creature that the Puritans call "the fiend," a being with a wolf's head, a humanlike body, and large wings. It is none other than Hayato Sugihara, the bank teller from Chapter 2.
- Big Damn Heroes: Happens four times. The first is when, shortly after entering the Lesser Heaven, Dimity saves a group of Puritan soldiers by blasting a demon. The second is when Mash shows up to distract the Centurion as Dimity is about to lose her Beam-O-War struggle with it. The third is when a powered-up Mash saves Dimity from Hayato Sugihara. The fourth is when Elizabeth Roberts puts Dimity's body back together after Sugihara cuts Dimity in half.
- Black Speech: The Big Bad demon is decribed as speaking in an unfamiliar language "infused with many vowels." Ultimately subverted, since the demon is a Japanese man; he was merely speaking his native language, and the Puritans couldn't understand him.
- Body Horror: The inside of the fiend's castle is a disgusting mishmash of orgains and veins.
- Church Militant: Any Puritan soldier would be this by default, but Reverend Zeke Marston, Mash's father, counts here since he goes out to fight the demons alongside the younger men.
- Damsel in Distress: The fiend captures Dimity after revealing himself to be Hayato Sugihara, the bank teller, then makes her an offer of great power on pain of a second death.
- Eldritch Abomination: The demons have humanlike eyes and mouths in random places on their bodies. The fiend's fortress counts as well.
- Fantasy Gun Control: Enforced by the Lesser Heaven; forbidden weapons like firearms break apart upon completion.
- Feels No Pain: A variant — Dimity does feel pain, but she has an extremely high tolerance for it.
- Final Battle: With Dimity and a heavily powered-up Mash on one side and the fiend on the other.
- Ghibli Hills: Despte the demons, the Lesser Heaven is quite a verdant and lovely place.
- Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Mash uses a sword while Dimity fights with Ki Manipulation from a distance.
- Healing Hands: Elizabeth Roberts' power. Since she is Puritan, her people look down on her for it.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: Mash wields a sword.
- Idol Singer: Dimity Red's main occupation.
- Ki Manipulation: The basis of Dimity's powers, allowing her to do things like create harmless light shows or blow demons apart.
- Ms. Exposition: Astrid, a valkyrie. She explains the rules and structure of the Lesser Heaven in exhaustive detail.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Averted; the bank teller is very helpful to Dimity after her account is hacked. He is also the fiend menacing the Lesser Heaven.
- Overly Long Name: Mash Marston's full name is Mahershalalhasbaz Marston.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Zeke works up the congregation in the church against Dimity and Elizabeth, Dimity runs away from the Puritan village.
- Storming the Castle: Dimity, Mash, and a number of Puritan soldiers assault the fiend's stronghold.
- Super Mode: Hinted at in Chapter 3 when Dimity senses the Puritans' stupendously high ki levels. Mash activates it to rescue Dimity in Chapter 8 and fight Sugihara in Chapter 9.
- Thanksgiving Episode: The Puritans have one after the fiend is defeated, complete with a feast.
- Twist Ending: Rentaro Oyama, Dimity's manager, ends up in the Lesser Heaven after he is shot in the chest.
- You Got Murder: Dimity is murdered with a package bomb in Chapter 2, leading to her adventure in the Lesser Heaven.
