Twenty-four countries are locked in a century-long war, vying for the control of the island of Wakoku. A young girl named Hinowa joins the army of the Soukai kingdom in order to end the war, once and for all, but is killed in battle. Now her daughter Hinata takes up her name, and plans to finish what her mother started by fighting against the evil king Zuou and stopping his conquest of Wakoku.
The manga began in June of 2017, and was serialized in Square Enix's Big Gangan magazine. However, it was cancelled in June of 2022 due to low sales. Unusually for the manga industry, Strelka posted an apology on Twitter for overseas fans
, explaining the reasons the story failed to overcome the company's criteria for cancellation and crediting them for keeping the series alive for just a while longer.
This page is currently under construction.
Hinowa ga Crush! provides examples of:
- Action Girl: The first Hinowa, one of the Soukai fleet's captains. Akame, The Ace of Night Raid, also appears. In fact, this goes for most of the female main cast and their opponents, namely Amateru, Moegi and Yomihime.
- Affably Evil: Of the Ten Stars, Yomihime is the least crazed. She is respectful of the first Hinowa and praises her leadership, even as she brutally finishes her off.
- All Women Are Lustful: Moegi from the Ten Stars is introduced being late to a meeting because she was busy banging one of her lovers. She also is in the habit of bedding strong male captives as well.
- Ambiguously Human: The first Hinowa is surprised by Yomihime's overwhelming power and asks if she's even human. Yomihime herself doesn't even know.
- An Arm and a Leg: The first Hinowa loses all of her limbs to Yomihime's Falcon Sweep.
- Anyone Can Die: The original Hinowa, Kobu, Shion, King Sotetsu, Maruge, Kahei, Strange Elder/Enji and Hisame on the good guys side so far. Kyoukotsu, Moegi, and Waniba on the enemy's side.
- Beleaguered Assistant: Kahei. Compared to his master Maruge, he is more knowledgeable in military affairs and often prods him into more tactically-prudent decisions, against the latter's tendency toward cowardice.
- Benevolent Boss: The first Hinowa is this to the men under her command, providing food for them and immediately ordering them to flee when Yomihime appears. Her daughter carries on the tradition of being a kind leader, steadfastedly putting herself in danger for the sake of her men and seeking to protect their lives at all costs.
- Bestiality Is Depraved: Shion has a fondness for having sex with fish. Played for laughs as he is on the side of the protagonists and otherwise shows no villainous attributes.
- Big Bad: Zuou, king of Tenrou, who's leading his kingdom in a war to conquer the entire country of Wakoku.
- Black-and-Gray Morality: The Soukai Kingdom for most part is a fairly light shade of gray, taking a predominantly isolationist stance against the rest of Wakoku and preferring to turn its attention to the sea, which stands in contrast to Tenrou's brutal expansionist policies. In battle, they unhesitantly slaughter their enemies without mercy.
- This also applies to the main cast, who seem to be relatively innocent kids at the beginning of the story but have already killed pirates and end up killing dozens, if not hundreds of soldiers, within a few chapters.
- Brought Down to Badass: Since Murasame was broken at the climax of Akame Ga Kill, Akame starts the story using bog standard katanas instead. She is still exceptionally skilled as she was a skilled killer long before she even received the Murasame to begin with.
- Casanova Wannabe: Kumehachi is always being rejected by women when he tries to woo.
- A Child Shall Lead Them: This is what Enji has planned for the children he's taught, intending them to play an essential role in uniting the other Wakoku factions and ending the civil war.
- Civil War: The island of Wakoku is in the middle of one that has lasted for at least a century, with various factions vying among each other for supremacy.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Hinata/Hinowa the second is this to Tatsumi. Although both are villagers who fight with swords, Tatsumi is an Idiot Hero who ends up as an Audience Surrogate from time to time. Hinowa is wiser to the ways of the world due to her Conveniently an Orphan status, and helps to introduce Akame to the setting for the new story. While Tatsumi is motivated by his desire to provide for his village and his sense of justice, Hinowa is driven by her desire to escape her caste and make sure her mother's name lives on.
- Co-Dragons: The Ten Stars of Tenrou, who are generals second only in authority to Zuou.
- Decapitation Presentation: Standard for the series, as the warring factions often decapitate enemy leaders to demoralize opposing soldiers.
- Amateru is introduced showing two halves of a head sewn together from two leaders that opposed Tenrou.
- Zuou presents Rinzu with Hisame's decapitated head and dismembered body parts, which causes her to faint.
- Decoy Protagonist: The Hinowa we see in the first chapter is set up to be the main protagonist, but is killed at the end of the first chapter. Her daughter, Hinata, is the actual protagonist.
- Dead Guy Junior: Hinata renamed herself after her mother, who wanted her name to be known around the world.
- Defector from Decadence: Enji resigned from the Ten Stars and left Tenrou after watching Zuou's rule become increasingly sadistic.
- Dirty Coward: Despite choosing to become commander of a military force, Maruge tries to find the least dangerous places to fight and hides behind the strongest warriors in his army.
- Dual Wielding: Tobari prefers to fight with two katanas.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Suzumaru is so pretty he's sometimes mistaken for a woman.
- Elixir of Life: One of the reasons why Tenrou is so insistent on invading Soukai is because Zuou wants to eat mermaid flesh in order to extend his lifespan. However, he is thwarted by Enji, who had long since killed off all the mermaids and fed their flesh to his young proteges, extending their lives long enough to carry out his plan of unifying the island.
- Enemy Mine: Soukai and Saryu allied with each other to face off against Tenrou.
- Enigmatic Minion: Kururiya of the Ten Stars wears a mask that hides its gender and age. The fact that it creeps out its allies doesn't help either.
- Eyepatch of Power: Nahashu of the Ten Stars covers his left eye with one.
- Eyes Always Shut: Amateru of the Ten Stars always has her eyes this way, signifying her very dangerous hidden talents.
- Face–Heel Turn: Waniba and Kakesu betray Soukai, allowing the Tenrou invasion force to pass through the fortifications as Shiranui without hindrance, which leads to several castles in Soukai falling in quick succession.
- First-Episode Twist: While Hinowa's death in the first chapter counts as one, given that she is so prominently on the cover of the first issue, Akame's appearance at the end of the chapter definitely hammers the point home, establishing the series as taking place in the same world as Akame Ga Kill.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Yomihime reveals to Akame that she is the child of a Freak and a human woman.
- Hotter and Sexier: While Akame ga Kill! didn't shy from fanservice, Hinowa Ga Crush takes it up a few notches with uncensored nipples, full frontal nudity and graphic sexual depictions.
- Human Resources: Kyoukotsu, who has a habit of making furniture out of the body parts of his soldiers and enemies, occasionally going so far as to weaponize them.
- I Have You Now, My Pretty: Rinzu is forced to become Zuou's wife under threats that her retainers will be killed if she does not obey his commands.
- Last Stand: King Sotetsu prepares to make his last stand at Nagisa Castle in hopes of dragging out the invasion long enough for the other factions to make a move on Tenrou, which would force them to retreat. Unfortunately, the betrayal of Waniba causes the castle to fall within days.
- Legacy Character: Hinata takes her mother's name so that it can be known across the land.
- Lighter and Softer: The death of the Decoy Protagonist in the first chapter and violence aside, the story has been much less oppressively bleak with protagonists who are up and coming youngsters who aren't completely jaded compared to the very cynical assassins of the Night Raid, and an enemy empire who isn't as cartoonishly villainous as the empire from Akame ga Kill!. However, this is completely subverted with the fall of Soukai, reminding everyone that this is still the world of Akame ga Kill.
- Love at First Sight: Hisame has wanted to marry Princess Rinzu since he first saw her, hence why he intends to earn his reputation in the army so he can marry her legitimately. In turn, she reciprocates his affections.
- Mad Artist: Kyoukotsu treats using the corpses of his victims as a gruesome type of art. Also overlaps with Mad Scientist as he is particularly inventive with using the remains of Freaks as materiel for war.
- Mêlée à Trois: Twenty-four factions are fighting for control over Wakoku.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: Enji is killed after the fall of Soukai by being boiled to death in a cauldron.
- The Mole: Suzumaru decides to become one in Tenrou's army.
- Neutrality Backlash: Soukai's complacency with its isolationism bites it in the ass, as the loss of Shiranui leaves it ill-prepared to fend off a full-scale invasion from Tenrou.
- Off with His Head!:
- This is how Hisame kills Kyoukotsu. What's freaky is that the head keeps talking before ultimately expiring.
- Hisame is in turn killed by Zuou this way, after having fended off an assault by Mizuchi and his men.
- Old Master: The mysterious old man who teaches Hinata/Hinowa and her friends how to fight, among other things. It is eventually revealed that he was originally an advisor by the name of Enji, who was responsible for turning Tenrou into a major power. His mentorship was part of a long-term plot to defeat Tenrou and bring peace to the land.
- Out with a Bang: Moegi tends to do this to particularly strong defeated opponents, having sex with them until they die outright or collapse from exhaustion (at which point she has them killed for not performing up to her expectations).
- Playing with Fire: Yomihime's powers revolve around flames and explosions making her a contrast to Esdeath's Ice powers.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil:
- Zuou, who takes women as his wives and concubines by force whether they are willing or not.
- Moegi, whose dalliances with men (both willing and unwilling) just how warped her mind really is.
- Signature Move: The Tenrou leaders have the Falcon Sweep, which varies for among those who use it. For Sakuza, it's a wide horizontal blade slash. For Yomihime, it's a multi-hitting slash.
- Sinister Scythe: Amateru wields one made from a Freak.
- The Strategist: Shion is Soukai's main strategist. His death by Waniba's betrayal is a huge blow to Soukai's military fortunes.
- Token Good Teammate: Yomihime is one by relative comparison to the other Ten Stars, most of whom demonstrate varying degrees of Ax-Crazy
- Tragic Keepsake: Hinowa's earring is now in possession of her daughter, Hinata, who renames herself as Hinowa in honor of her mother.
- Wham Episode: Chapter 33. Nagisa Castle falls to Tenrou, King Sotetsu and Rinzu are captured, and Hisame is killed by Zuou. Zuou then proceeds to take Rinzu as his bride, rapes her on the spot, and shows her Hisame's decapitated head after he's done.
- Wham Shot: The first chapter ends with Akame washing up on the beach that Hinowa was on.
- Worthy Opponent: Kyoukotsu actually sees Suzumaru as one after he manages to parry his strikes despite having an inferior weapon.
- Wutai: Wakoku is essentially a fantasy Sengoku Jidai Japan, to the point where Soukai is roughly geographically analogous to what is now the Yamaguchi Prefecture.
- Xanatos Gambit: The Elder's plans to bring peace to Wakoku. After leaving Tenrou for Soukai, he tutors Hinata, Hisame, Kumehachi, Suzumaru, and Tobari with the goal of turning them into the next generation of warriors and leaders who could bring peace to the land. Tenrou's repeated attempts at invading Soukai actually work in his favour, since it allows his pupils to gain renown and quickly attain positions of authority, with Hisame becoming the likely successor to the kingship of Soukai. Additionally, to ensure that they would live long enough to carry out his plan, he feeds them all of them (including Akame) mermaid flesh to extend their lifespans, while also ensuring that Zuou cannot do the same. He even prepared a contingency plan accounting for the fall of the kingdom and his own death, which he writes on a scroll that he hands off to Akame. Within it, he outright declares why Hinata/Hinowa should become the ruler of Wakoku and advises his pupils to travel to the east to gain power and find allies while Tenrou is busy consolidating its position in the west; alternately, he also suggests that, in the event that they wish to flee, the best course of action would be to travel by sea to the Southern Countries.
- You Have Failed Me: This is standard practice for Kyoukotsu, who does not hesitate to brutally murder his men if they fail in their tasks, if they disappoint him in some way, or if he's just plain bored and needs an excuse to make furniture out of them.
