Blazer Drive
Set in a futuristic Tokyo, mankind has managed to overcome pollution doing so with the help of Mystickers, stickers that when traced can activate the element they represent. These stickers are mostly used as natural power sources for everyday things, like heating a stove or powering automobiles. Using them on yourself, however, is highly dangerous...unless you're a Blazer - a person that can put Mystickers on themselves without harm and wield their power.
One such Blazer is Daichi, a teenager living with his older brother, Ginga, after their parents died in an auto accident. His life was pretty uneventful (save for being part of a small gang) until one day he helps save a man being chased by a gang of thugs. However the leader of said gang manages to find Daichi and in the ensuing fight reveals that his brother is actually part of a secret force known as Guardians, who protect the city from a evil group known as Qilin Realm who seek to use mystickers for destructive means.
Ginga unfortunately ends up getting transported to another dimension while protecting Daichi, but manages to leave Daichi a Mysticker that can endlessly generate electricity. Soon Daichi meets Kuroki, a friend of Ginga and the aforementioned man who was being chased, who offers to show him the world of the Blazers - and thus, Daichi's adventure begins from there.
Blazer Drive is the second mainstream manga of Seishi Kishimoto, creator of 666 Satan (O-Parts Hunter outside of Japan), in conjunction with Sega who have made a RPG for the Nintendo DS, which features a story that runs parallel to the main manga (what's more, this was announced before the series was even serialized).
- Aloof Big Brother: Subverted in that Ginga only acted that way to protect Daichi from the Blazer's lifestyle.
- An Ice Person: Akashikibu.
- Badass Normal - the Section III Division Head, who can sense potential Blazers, as well as her brother, a genius computer-Otaku who can type with his toes.
- BF Whip Sword: Kuroki's sword.
- Big Guy, Little Guy: The Iron Brothers; naturally the little one is in charge he also can get a whole lot bigger. The younger's finger is as big as the elder's whole hand.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall : When Daichi uses a Groin Attack, the villain gets offended by a shonen protagonist stooping so low.
- Brilliant but Lazy: Ryuki, the videogame otaku, who doesn't want his "freedom as a NEET[1]" impeded by responsibilities to Division XIII. Lampshaded by a Retired Badass.
- Crowning Moment of Awesome Misora has had several since she first proved that she wasn't going to be The Load. But her fight with Akashikibu tops it all.
- Dirty Old Man: the hedgehog mascot Trickster Mentor.
- Expy: Kuroki could be a dead ringer for Kirin from 666 Satan. Likewise the main character of the video game bears a high resemblance to Jin of the same series.
- Hey now! let's not forget just how much Daichi looks like a black-haired Jio from 666 Satan, especially when you compare Tamamayu and Jio's Satan claw
- Gender Bender: Daichi is transformed into a "wood fairy" by the Division Head's videogame-otaku brother, who doesn't want to play a male character. He's initially shocked, but doesn't mind since he's so good-looking as a girl (Misora: He really is that narcissistic!).
- Gratuitous English: Yaiba from the DS game. Oddly enough, his Engrish-isms always have a Japanese translation written just underneath them.
- Green Lantern Ring : Daichi's wire mysticker can be used to create any shape out of wire - this has multiple uses up to and including Ninja Log .
- Fan Service
- Fetish Fuel : The Division Head for Section III is an S&M Queen who actually punishes her subordinates by dominating them... and within minutes of meeting her, Daichi is sent out on a mission while leaving Misora bound on a rack.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: The guy in charge of Quilin Realm. He just fried the guy who developed the idea of Blazers.
- Improbable Weapon User: As if the Mystickers weren't crazy enough, some of the characters wield some pretty bizarre weaponry. Some examples being Misora who can use a book to trace creations and bring them to life and Yuyuka who brandishes a giant fork stuck into a jelly roll like a hammer.
- Incendiary Exponent: While fighting with the ice user akashikibu, Misora realises that since you can never get hurt by your own mysticker attacks she can protect herself from cold by charging right through her summon's Breath Weapon.
- Kick the Dog: In addition to an actual dog-girl; she gets better, Akashikibu finally defrosts just as she gets frozen solid. And then Quilin Realm mocks her by covering her face with the dog-girl's mask, and finally blows her up for good measure.
- Nerd Glasses: The Division Head's brother, who's Blind Without'Em (he's practically a Shout-Out to Mousse, at least to this troper). He hates wearing them because they make him look like an otaku, but they're just icing on the cake.
- Not a Game: Being a Blazer Guardian.
- People Jars: Ginga's currently stuck inside one at Quilin Realm HQ.
- Power Fist: In the DS game, the main character Shiro's first (and signature) Arms Mysticker is a giant gauntlet named "Valiant".
- Punny Name: Akashikibu: aka = red, her mysticker is blue ice; combine that and you get her real name Murasaki (violet) Shikibu.
- Rule of Cool: Daichi is very concerned with how cool he looks, which only serves to make him uncool.
- Shipper on Deck: One of the blazers in Section III says that Daichi and Yuyuka make a good couple.
- Shout-Out: Misora uses "ball-skates" like the ones seen in 666 Satan.
- Something About a Rose: Tamaki in the DS game uses a rose Mysticker to fight.
- Tear Jerker: In a two-part chapter Daichi enters a race to get back a Mysticker for a family whose son died in said race (though it's implied he was sabotaged). The mother of the family is in ill health and will likely die soon, and mistakes Daichi as her deceased son. Daichi manages to win the race but arrives at the house just in time to witness the mother die. She dies happy that she got to see her "son" one last time.
- Akashikibu's Freudian Excuse: After her one-hit-wonder actress mother dies after she (Murasaki) overhears some jerks call her that, she became obsessed with preserving "shine": if you can't "shine" forever, you'll be forgotten. When she's defeated, just before she she's overtaken by the ice, she finally remembers her mother's last words: "My real 'shining moment' was giving birth to you." And then she's frozen. And mocked. And blown up.
- Token Mini-Moe: Yuyuka
- Training from Hell
- Trickster Mentor
- Verbal Tic: The old guy who echoes the last sound in a sentence, EG: "That's amazing-ing-ing! How do you do that-at-at?!", which might have something to do with the fact that he's always shivering.
- What the Hell, Hero? : See Breaking the Fourth Wall above
- Whip It Good
- You Have Failed Me... Akashikibu gets it twice - first from her mysticker, then from the Quilin Realm.
- ↑ Not in Education or Employment Training