Webcomic / Dame Daffodil

Blossom, Dame Daffodil!

???: "Charo. What do you want to be when you're older?"
Charo: "I want to be a hero!"
???: "That isn't really what I meant."
Charo: "I will be a hero! I'll help people when they need it! I'll be there when they're sad. Or when they need someone close to them! Because that's what being a hero means!"

Dame Daffodil is a webcomic concerning the adventures of Charo, a bright-smiled child who's a hero at her heart of gold, at the distress of her older brother Anselmo (or Momo as she likes to call him) and the encouragement of her upperclassman best friend Alesea. This Slice of Life follows Charo as she goes about her heroic antics, including giving lunch money to those that need it, helping ducks cross the road, teaching full-grown ducks how to swim, and making whooshing noises as she runs down the street with a cape and tripping over.

Then Charo comes across a daffodil hairclip. During an encounter with a monster, she discovers she can transform into the mighty Dame Daffodil to fight monsters and save people. From here, the comic becomes focused on Charo's growth as a superhero (which still includes all of her superhero antics).

The author, sakura-rose12, posts ancillary information on their blog, including upcoming characters and developments so here there be spoilers.

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Tropes that bloom in Dame Daffodil are:

• Alliterative Title: Due to being an Alliterative Name-type Codename of the Protagonist Title.
• All There in the Manual: Some details are expanded on at sakura-rose12's tumblr.
• Animesque: Rather subdued but the comic takes some inspiration from anime, from the genre to some panels where characters are chibi.
• Deliberately Monochrome: The comic's drawn entirely in monochrome, although there is shading.
• Die or Fly: Charo's powers awaken, and outside of her transformation at that, when a monster attacks her with tremendous speed. The same happens with Alesea wearing the lily ring, except Charo's the one under attack.
• Empathic Weapon: Charo says so herself about her daffodil hairpin.
  Charo: "I noticed at first that I transformed only in danger. It was like... it was protecting me."

• Grail in the Garbage: Charo finds the daffodil hairclip at the window of a shop for only £3.
• How Do I Shot Web?: In her first battle, Dame Daffodil protects herself with a Hand Blast... that she has no idea how to consciously use. Later training remedies this flaw. This is common amongst those using the powers of the flower jewels for the first time.
• Meaningful Name: As the images in Characters tab show, the characters' names were chosen with a specific meaning in mind.
• No Name Given: Every character in the comic has only been referred to with one name. Supplementary material gives Charo and Anselmo the surname of "Flores".
• Non-Malicious Monster: A Toxic Seed appears later that is blind, has no innate urge for destruction, and is just stumbling about confused while everyone cheers for Dame Daffodil to defeat it. It's heavily hinted that the past monsters were the same, fighting out of self-defense rather than evil.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Charo's transformation into Dame Daffodil doesn't change anything about her at all apart from making her hair brighter and longer. Despite Dame Daffodil's numerous published appearances in media, no one seems to recognise her. It then comes to light that there's a reason for this: the transformation has a glamour effect on others that keep the wearer from being recognised. Alesea sees through it with the power of the lily ring, but it's unknown if all flower jewels have this glamour penetration.
  Alesea: "It's like your face has been fuzzy, but not anymore!"
• Plant Mooks: The monsters, known as Toxic Seeds, appear infrequently and through mysterious circumstances. Sometimes they just grow in an alleyway, undisturbed, and two have crashed in through the sky like meteorites. They tend to be defeated off-panel, though, and any shown fights are more about Dame Daffodil's growth as a hero.
• Police Are Useless: Zig-Zagged. The police can't handle the monsters that Dame Daffodil faces, but they assist in evacuations and security, making sure civilians don't enter zones of conflict or battle. Not that it stops Alesea from bypassing an easily distracted officer to get closer to Dame Daffodil.
  Author note: you’re not doing a very good job mister policeman.
• Splash of Color: When Charo comes across the daffodil hairclip, it glows a bright yellow that's reflected in Charo's eyes, a sharp contrast to the black and white that dominates the rest of the comic. This also happens when she transforms for the first time.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Charo and Alesea, although Charo isn't that much of a Tomboy in the first place. Nevertheless, Charo is energetic and thrives on adventure, getting into the thick of things with speed, and she'll even climb trees to rescue cats. Alesea's much more delicate and gentle, as mentioned in her bio.
• Transformation Sequence: Although most webcomics don't employ animation—and Dame Daffodil is no exception—Charo still undergoes one in the form of a colour strip that uses all four panels at once to show the glowing silhouette of Dame Daffodil.
• Transformation Trinket: Charo's daffodil hairclip and, later on, the lily ring.
• Two Girls and a Guy: Charo The Hero, Alesea the Best Friend, and Anselmo the Aloof Big Brother of Charo.
• Yonkoma: The comics are presented in such a manner, and they're loosely connected at the start. Charo getting the daffodil hairpin marks the point of a continually progressing and flowing storyline.

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