The series is a Sports Story focused on the world of competitive fencing. There are two main characters who also happen to be rivals: Nicholas Cox, a Hot-Blooded young fencer, and Seiji Katayama, a cool and collected fencing prodigy. They both attend the prestigious Kings Row, an all-boys boarding school where they both compete for a slot on the elite fencing team among a colorful cast of characters made up of spoiled rich kids, tough coaches, and flirty jocks.
The series borrows a lot of tropes from Sports Anime, complete with a pretty accurate depiction of fencing. It also has a heaping amount of Boys' Love content, with numerous gay characters along with the Homoerotic Subtext between the two main characters. Unsurprisingly, it quickly picked up a fanbase and after the initial 12 issues were released, the series was announced to be continued in OGN (original graphic novel) form, along with two written prose novels (titled Striking Distance and Disarmed) that were released in 2020 and 2021.
Not related to the play Fences, written by August Wilson in 1984, or its 2016 film adaptation.
This series includes the following tropes:
- The Ace: Fence has a number of characters who fit this trope, and a few of them are teammates with the protagonist Nicholas.
- Ambiguously Gay: Both Nicholas and Seiji, who constantly think about each other and have yet to state if they're romantically interested in women, though the writer does confirm the former to be bisexual. This is in stark contrast to Aiden, Harvard, and almost every other boy who attends Kings Row.
- Animesque: While not as blatant in many works invoking the trope, some volumes of Fence have the cast being depicted Super-Deformed style for comedic effect.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: The fencing coach of Kings Row often does this to give readers more insight on the fundamentals of the sport. She even properly assesses the traits of each competitor, giving them instructions on what they can do to improve themselves.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Nicholas and Seiji don't get along at all, and yet can't stop thinking about each other; Seiji seems especially enamored after he's nearly beaten by Nicholas in a match.
- Boarding School: Many of the schools in the story including Kings Row are this.
- Cast Full of Gay: There are a lot of gay/bi students attending Kings Row. The explicitly gay main characters include Aiden, Harvard, and Dante, and there are several minor characters that happen to swing that way too (namely, Aiden's fanboy squad). Nicholas and Seiji obviously have some sort of attraction towards each other, but neither has declared themselves straight or gay.
- Character Focus: While Nicholas and Seiji do take up more attention in the story, each major character is given some attention here and there to allow for personal growth.
- Childhood Friends: Harvard and Aiden, and they have another childhood friend in Arune who attends another school. Also applies to Seiji and Jesse who attended the same fencing camp together during their formative years.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Kyle appears in volume 1 as a minor character who picks a fight with Nicholas for making light of Seiji's fighting prowess.
- Expy: The creators have stated that the anime Haikyuu!! has been a major inspiration for the series and characters, even the buildup of the stories are the same.
- Naïve Newcomer Nicholas/Hinata goes against The Ace Seiji/Kageyama, who is expected to win the opening tournament in their debut match. Nicholas/Hinata hopes they can somehow pull out a win, only to be handed a crushing defeat. Seiji/Kageyama taunts their hopes of success while Nicholas/Hinata swears they will defeat them. Months pass and Nicholas/Hinata enters a low-ranked high school with the optimism of facing their rival, only to find Seiji/Kageyama attending the same school and now having to learn how to work together.
- Five-Token Band: The cast of Fence is racially diverse, both in and out of Kings Row: Seiji is Japanese, Eugene is Filipino, Harvard is African-American, Aiden is white, Nicholas is ethnically ambiguous with white heritage, Bobby is Hispanic, Kally is presumably Middle Eastern or Asian.
- Gaming and Sports Anime & Manga: Fence is a Western take on this genre.
- I Shall Taunt You: Several fencers including Aiden make use of taunts in order to rile up their opponents and leave them more vulnerable. Of course, characters like Nicholas and Tanner tend to be immune to these mind games despite their more temperamental personalities.
- Interclass Friendship: Some of the bonds established throughout the story are between characters from different backgrounds and economic statuses. This is best demonstrated by Nicholas and Seiji who gradually come to see one another as friends in later volumes.
- Just Friends: Aiden is clearly into Harvard and wants him as more of a friend, but Aiden refuses to date him because he doesn't sleep with teammates. When Jay asks Aiden why he has this policy, Aiden explains it's so he "doesn't mess up the one good thing he has in his life" as he fondly looks at Harvard.
- Love Triangle: The comic gradually portrays the relationship between Nicholas, Seiji, and Jesse as this with Nicholas and Jesse as rivals competing for Seiji's attention.
- Monochrome Past: Deliberately invoked in some of the volumes when flashing back to moments that happened way before the story's events.
- No-Sell: Aiden's mind games don't work on Nicholas, who is generally just too dense to get what Aiden's doing. But beyond that, Nicholas focuses on the fact that Aiden beat Seiji, so beating Aiden is like beating Seiji.
- Novelization: Fence has spawned two novels written by Sarah Rees Brennan with the first one being given the subtitle of Striking Distance and the second one called Disarmed.
- Oblivious to Love: Bobby has an obvious crush on Seiji, who is too focused on fencing to even bother noticing. Meanwhile, Dante is seemingly crushing on Bobby big time, not that Bobby notices.
- One-Gender School: The schools introduced in Fence are all comprised of male students, though female teachers and coaches do prominently appear as well.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Nicholas's passionate and strong personality contrasts with Seiji's icy demeanor. Likewise, Aiden's capricious nature matches well with Harvard's stern but caring side.
- Roommate Drama: The protagonists are each others' roommates. Nicholas with Seiji, Harvard with Aiden, and Bobby with Dante.
- Running Gag:
- Whenever Kyle mentions his cousin Jesse either directly or implicitly, two of his acquaintances playfully mock the things he might end up saying.
- The repeated comments on how Nicholas's form is horrible, with Coach Williams' handwriting getting angrier each time she mentions it.
- School Forced Us Together: Ends up happening to Nicholas and Seiji when both of them become each other's roommate much to their chagrin. They eventually do make the most out of it as the story progresses.
- Shown Their Work: C.S. Pacat works with an épée coach in order portray fencing realistically as well as develop the characters' strengths and weaknesses.
- Sports Story: Fencing serves as the core theme of the story as Nicholas and the other students learn more about the techniques and intricacies of the sport.
- There Is Only One Bed: Harvard and Aiden push their bunk beds together in volume 5, which means Seiji and Nicholas also have to sleep next to each other.
- This Is My Side: Nicholas and Seiji split their dorm room down the middle. Seiji keeps his side tidy and organized while Nicholas leaves his disheveled clothes on the floor.
- Tournament Arc: Downplayed by the training camp arc which has the characters personally size up the other schools to understand both their respective strengths and weaknesses.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Aiden clearly wants to be with Harvard, but also tries to be Just Friends due to his insecurities as well as not being initially unsure that Harvard likes boys. Harvard himself realizes that he's into Aiden in Striking Distance, but also doesn't want to ruin their friendship.
