Psyren

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From left to right: Oboro, Sakurako, Ageha, Hiryuu, and Kabuto

"Please save me..."

"THOSE WHO SEEK PSYREN SHALL KNOW POWER AND DESPAIR!"

Psyren begins with a focus on highschooler Ageha Yoshina, who runs a service where he will help anybody with their problems for the flat rate of 10,000 yen. One day, he answers a pay phone ringing by itself, and receives a red calling card with the word "Psyren" on it. After filling out a questionnaire over the phone, he receives another call that transports him to another world.

Here he encounters Sakurako Amamiya, a girl in his class who often misses class for very long periods of time, and Hiryuu Asaga, an old friend of his from Middle school who went to another High School. Sakurako explains that this world is Psyren, and as part of a game they must traverse the perilous landscape, avoid the monstrous creatures called Tavoo, and reach the nearest pay phone to return home.

After their first hellish trip through Psyren, Hiryuu and Ageha develop abilities called PSI from being exposed to Psyren's atmosphere. They also learn that they will have to constantly go back to Psyren until the number on their calling cards reduces to zero. From there the series escalates fast.

It was published in Weekly Shounen Jump from December 2007 to November 2010 and has been licensed by Viz Media. Volume 1 is expected to appear State-side December 2010. Also it has two light novels written for it.

Tropes used in Psyren include:
  • Action Bomb - Yusaka
  • Action Girl - Sakurako, and so naturally Abyss.
  • A God Am I - Amagi Miroku... shall become the center of the universe
    • Usui as well
  • After the End - Psyren is Japan in the future after it is destroyed by the W.I.S.E.
  • All Just a Dream - Kabuto keeps telling himself that what's happening to him is this.
  • All Your Base Are Belong to Us - Attempted in the invasion of Root. The attack got repelled, but the base was still abandoned afterwards.
  • Almost Kiss - Ageha and Sakurako. Thanks, Elmore kids.
  • Alternate Continuity - Every time Ageha and co. cause a significant change in the timeline, they see the results next time they enter Psyren or view the 12/2 DVD.
    • After the destruction of Mithra and the promised tear, the Psyren-future was not changed but completely seperated from the main timeline, just like #06 explained before.
  • Ambiguously Brown - Kyle, Yusaka and Abyss.
  • Ambiguous Gender - The W.I.S.E member Mithra. It's a she genderless cosmic abomination.
  • And I Must Scream - The fate of Eiji Kise's victims.
  • An Ice Person - #03.
  • Anime Hair - Ageha and Hiryuu have mild forms of it, whereas Kyle looks like he's a Super-Saiyan.
  • Anticlimax - Ageha and Miroku's fight. Considering Amagi Miroku is one of the most powerful psi-users, with the power to manipulate life energy and the leader of W.I.S.E and Big Bad of the manga kind of; it takes all but one chapter for Ageha to beat and fatally wound him (in ironically enough the exact time frame his Raging King last).
    • Miroku still lived for several chapters after the attack. Also taking the Fridge Brilliance entry below into account, Miroku's body was made of souls/psi energy and Ageha's abilities are anathema to that.
    • A more extreme example would be Amagi and Ageha's final battle with Mithra. The fight lasts all of one page, and Amagi does nothing.
  • Anti-Magic - Shao can flat-out nullify PSI as well as redirect it to his will. Usui's "Irregular Left" causes PSI to go haywire when contact is made.
    • Ageha's Melschee's Door eats PSI.
      • Melschee's Door eats EVERYTHING.
  • Anti-Villain - many of the minor villains are these. They also usually lose their status as villains shortly afterward.
  • Apocalypse How - Using PSI to yank a passing meteor and pulling it down onto Earth.
    • Or maybe the meteor just decided to do that on its own. Its unclear at this point.
      • Seems like the meteor wants to do that on its own, but can't. The "Promised Tears" that Mithra used supposedly acted as a homing beacon for the meteor.
  • Art Initiates Life - Caprico's "Creator" ability.
  • Artificial Human -Grana
  • Arrow Catch - In the first volume Sakurako catches several fired by the Tavoo Alfred, and throws them back with near equal force.
  • Asshole Victim - No tears were shed when Junas killed Usui.
  • Attack Its Weak Point - The Tavoo have quite visible cores called Illuminas that stop it's aging, increase psychic power, allow them to draw psychic energy from the atmosphere, increase healing rates, and make eating, drinking, and breathing unnecessary. So due to being pretty much the only thing keeping their body alive at this point, having it destroyed means death for the Tavoo.
  • The Atoner - Iba seems to be going down this route.
  • Ax Crazy - Yusuka, dear god Yusuka.
    • Abyss
    • Eiji Kise.
  • Badass: Kagetora, the Elmore kids, and Grana.
    • Pretty much every character in the series actually. Even Kabuto starts getting badass eventually.
    • This shonen is unique in that even The Medic characters are Badass. Healing effectively with PSI requires you to synchronize with your target's rhythm (breathing, pulse, etc.), a mindset which naturally has quite a few combat applications.
  • Badass Bookworm - Yoshina Asuka, Ageha's dad. Professional astronomer, can punch his son across the yard of Elmore Wood without blinking.
  • Badass Longcoat - Shao and Shiner.
  • Bad Future - Psyren is Japan after getting destroyed by the W.I.S.E.
  • Battle Aura - PSI. Ageha and Fredrica's Burst Stream is an advanced version of this. Shao's Shinra Banshou technique focuses entirely on this, allowing him to manipulate the Burst techniques of others.
    • Let's not forget Matsuri's Requiem...
  • Battle Couple - Ageha and Sakurako, as shown in the cover art for Chapter 112
    • More recently, Matsuri and Kagetora have been made official.
  • Barehanded Blade Block - A variant, but Grana grabs a spire of the Tree of Life barehanded, and just seems mildly annoyed doing so.
    • Another variant Kagetora blocks a knife attack from Junas with his head.
  • Barrier Warrior - Kyle and Miyake.
  • Beam Spam - Ageha is able to Beam Spam Melchesse's Lance when using Nova.
  • Beware the Nice Ones - Marie, big-time.
    • Oboro and Kabuto can also fall under this.
  • BFG - Tatsuo can conjure up an anti-tank Wave Motion Gun bigger than he is.
  • Big Damn Heroes - The Elmore kids save Ageha and co. when they are cornered by Shiner and Dholaki and about to all die. Tatsuo does this for Hiryuu as well.
    • Sakurako uses a well-placed knife to save Nemesis Q
    • Tatsuo is good at these, and later gets help from the rest of Team Dragon to save Root.
    • Grana tries to pull a You Shall Not Pass to stop Ageha from getting near Miroku? Matsuri's card received one more point, and Kagetora received a card as well.
  • Bishounen - Oboro, Haruhiko, Junas, Miroku, Shiner, and Shao as an adult
  • Blade Run - Asuka manages to pull one off, triggering a fight against Junas.
  • Blood Knight - Junas, hence his quote on the Character Sheet. Future Kyle has shades of this, as shown here
  • Body Horror - The process in which Tavoo are born, as well as Oboro's Biological Ruin technique.
  • Body Snatcher - Misura/Mithra needs to borrow bodies as they keep breaking down on her.
  • Boobs of Steel - Future!Marie, full stop. In a slight subversion, she usually doesn't act like the most powerful one.
    • Played straight with Matsuri.
  • Bottle Fairy - We first see Matsuri arriving in on a motorcycle drunk.
  • Brainwashed - Inui was brainwashed by Amagi, who posed as the former's brother to get him to advance the W.I.S.E's goals.
  • Bridal Carry - Ageha has done this to Amamiya a couple of times.
    • In the Invasion arc, Kabuto does this to Future!Fredrica.
  • Bring Him to Me: In chapter 61, Grana arranges to have Ageha brought to the W.I.S.E headquarters, because he's interested in his unique PSI power.
  • Bully Hunter - Ageha and Hiryuu when going to school.
  • Cast from Hit Points - Overusing Psi and/or using emotions to fuel it instead of concentration can cause brain damage for the user. The raw Melchesse's Door, Frederica's Pyrokinesis and Nova are especially prone to this.
  • Chekhov's Gun - the Siren Towers keep the sky from letting in sunlight. The phone booth Quiz established the control program that prevents Drifters from talking about Psyren. The list goes on.
  • Chekhov's Gunman - Every character plays an important role in the future, even Usui, the fake cop from Chapter 1.
  • Collapsing Lair - Yusaka blows up the Grigori research facility with his last breath
  • Combat Clairvoyance - One aspect of the "Menace" ability.
  • Combat Tentacles - Miyake's "Octopus" burst.
  • Combat Pragmatist - Amagi Miroku.
  • Combat Sadomasochist - Kyotada Inui
  • Convection, Schmonvection - Managed to almost be subverted when Miroku is "carbonized"- he obviously should be very much dead right now, but he's still standing and his eyes and brain are still intact. That's not how being carbonized works.
  • Cool Big Sis - Ageha's sister Fubuki. Matsuri plays this role for Sakurako.
  • Cooldown Hug - Ageha does this to Abyss when she goes berserk after he tells her he wants the other Sakurako back. Knowing she wants to kill him, he knocks her out and uses Melchsee's Vortex to continue is other fight.
  • Cosmic Horror - Named Quat Nevas.
  • Crazy Prepared - Dholaki and Shiner's ambush.
  • Creepy Child - Riko. Somebody get this girl to a shrink, stat. Sakurako has some issues, but wasn't like this in the past.
  • Curb Stomp Battle - Dholaki vs Kyle
    • Also the Elmore kids vs the Wise in the first 2 timelines and Ash vs Kabuto.
    • Chapter 121 has Ageha and Shao vs Junas, the latter being the one doing the curbstomping.
    • Mithra delivers one to Vigo.
    • Sakurako delivers a very satisfying one to Shiner. Might be unfair since she had help.
  • Cut Short - The manga had to end much sooner than expected due to low ratings in WSJ. It managed to finish it's main storyline in that the heroes were able to change their future and dispatch the main threat, but many sideplots were either handwaved or completely ignored and most characters had almost no resolution to their motivations and backstories. It is very obvious that much had to be left out to somehow reach the ending on time.
  • Cute Shotaro Boy - Van
  • Dark Is Not Evil - Abyss. Crazy? Yes. Violent? Also yes. Homicidal? Well her obsession/love of Ageha holds her back from killing.
  • Dark-Skinned Blond - Kyle is the rare male version, though his hair is more white than blond.
  • Deadly Upgrade - In order to preserve his rank, Dholaki embeds a second Tavoo Core in his body. Shiner comments that this has a 100% chance of rejection and that if Dholaki survives for another year that will be lucky.
    • Oboro does the same. Except replace two with two-hundred
  • Debut Queue - After returning to the present after meeting Q, Amagi Miroku starts taking a front-seat role, and we see him actually forming the W.I.S.E. member by member. He even grabs several that weren't seen previously.
  • Defeat Means Friendship - Grana to Miroku.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen - This was Sakurako's nickname back in High School when she was traveling to Psyren on her own. Ever since Ageha and the others joined her, she has slowly been melting.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu? - You often have weaker characters tearing more powerful people new ones. Sakurako managed to cause some actual damage to Shiner and force him to retreat at one point. Haruhiko is a Heavyweight Champion Eldritch Boxer, having inflicted major blows against Kagetora as well as Junas.
  • Disappeared Dad - Ageha's situation seemed this way for the longest time, but he appears eventually.
  • Distress Ball - Marie, a very powerful psychicer, gets knocked out and captured with one punch by an injured Kise in the invasion of the Root (to be fair, he held Van hostage). He hopes to provoke a Rescue Arc.
    • Also when considering Shao, who was better suited to fighting Vigo, almost had his heart torn out and then narrowly escaped being sealed in concrete during that short time. It is not difficult to imagine Vigo accomplishing his objective. The one hit knockout is still an eyebrow raiser though.
  • The Dragon - Junas to Miroku and Miyake to Usui.
  • Dragon with an Agenda - Miroku to Mithra, but the latter only served as a guide for the most part, whereas the former was more of an active leader...until their goals conflicted.
  • Driven to Suicide - Ian, after losing everything, including the only woman he loved and his only friend, loses the will to live, and kills himself by overtaxing his PSI energy (and destroying his brain) by continuously healing people nonstop for 48 hours
    • Its not so much a suicide as a one for many type situation combined with tear jerker. Most, very likely all, of the people he healed would have died without his help, and knowing that the war had already taken everything else from him, he gave up the last thing he had left without much worry. Yes, he knew that trying to keep the whole fortress alive would very likely kill him, but he chose to keep going in spite of that, not because of it.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending - Jesus Christ, poor kids just can't get a break...
  • Eldritch Abomination - There are implications that the asteroid Ouroborous has shades of this.
    • Don't let Oboro near any Tavoo.
    • As of chapter 138, it is confirmed that Ouroborous/Mithra is this. Even revealing it's own true name as Quat Nevas, or as it titles itself "The One That Devours Stars
  • Emergency Transformation - Oboro grabs a Tavoo core and does... stuff with it. Then he starts grabbing several more cores currently being used.
  • Enemy Within - Sakurako has one of these, seeking to take control of the body after their memories disappear forever.
  • Energy Beings - Asuka says that one becomes this when they master Nova.
  • Epic Flail - The Scourge Nekka fights with a chain weapon.
  • Everybody's Dead, Dave- The final trip to Psyren concludes with The world ending, having been eaten by an Eldritch Abomination.
  • Evil Costume Switch - Oboro looks like some necromancer when he transforms into a Tavoo
  • Extranormal Institute - Elmore Tenjiun's home is an orphange specifically for Psychicer children to help them harness their powers.
  • Everything Fades - Anything that dies in Psyren dissolves into dust afterwards. So do Drifters who Nemesis Q kills outside of Psyren for trying to divulge his secrets.
  • Evil All Along - Yusuka as of chapter 101.
  • Evil Twin - Amagi Miroku to Nemesis Q
  • Eyepatch of Power - Star Commander No. 1 Grana as well as Amagi Miroku when first seen. He abandons the patch later on.
  • Eye Scream - Why Grana has the Eyepatch of Power. Miroku gouged it out in their fight as his finishing move.
  • The Faceless - Odo of the scourge wears a face concealing mask.
  • Fan Nickname - Q-chan for Nemesis Q
    • Also Chibi Q and Lady Nemesis/Q for No. 7.
    • Recent developments have given birth to Kuromiya.
    • Mostly in the Japanese Fandom the term Ageharem/Ageharemu due to the Magnetic Hero qualities Ageha has. Made up of both sexes.
    • The mangas placement in TOC-rankings coined the term "Psyrening" for a manga that frequently jumps around between high and low positions.
  • Fan Service - Very rarely, but can there be any other reason to have a cover with Sakurako, Marie, and Fredrica wearing what is arguable lingerie, but certainly enticing none the less.
  • Five-Bad Band
  • Five-Man Band - Both the main group and Elmore's kids fall into this trope.
  • Fling a Light Into the Future - Played with. The various players are brought to the future, but the goalisn't to save the future ultimately, it's to prod things until 07 can fully understand what happened, wherein she flings a light into the past.
  • Friendship Moment- Haruhiko and Lan. They were assisting Inui in stealing cash to fund medical costs for Chika, the sister of Lan.
  • Future Badass - Elmore's Kids.
  • Gambit Roulette - As it turns out, Mithra is actually an incarnate of Ouroboros, who after possessing the girl and landing on Earth, began giving Miroku dreams and emotions that would cause him to have a desire for destroying the world and rebuilding it anew, and to gather energy by blocking the sun's rays in a specific way that would allow Ouroboros to gather enough energy to devour Earth.
    • Nemesis Q tops this. The entire goal of Psyren? To deliver a single message from future-07 to present-Miroku. Although, granted, all the different iterations of Psyren were needed to complete that message -- namely, 07 figuring out The Plan directly above.
  • Gender Blender Name - Ageha's dad's name is Asuka.
  • Giant Flyer - Hiryuu's complete Dragon.
  • Girl with Psycho Weapon - Mind Jack: Insanity Size.
  • God Guise - one of the remaining groups worships Usui, who they believe to be the reincarnation of the Emperor.
  • Good Thing You Can Heal - Subverted. Characters with Healing Hands can only use the power on other people.
    • Played straight with any Tavoo and then Up to Eleven with Amagi Miroku, who survives a telekinetic sunlight beam that nearly killed him and reduced his body to coal.
  • Go Out with a Smile- Yusaka is a rare villainous example.
  • Government Conspiracy - The present-day government is well aware of the existence of Psychicers, and imprisoned them on Mukurojima. Usui was a member of this agency, trying to investigate the Psyren disappearances. He realized what was happening, and decided to twist the scenario to benefit himself. Prior to that, the Grigori facility experimented on them and created Grana.
  • Gravity Master - Asuka's power, Astral Space
  • Healing Factor - One part of the "Rise" power increases regeneration. Kagetora is an extreme example.
  • Healing Hands - Oboro, Van, Ian. Direct contact makes it stronger, making it closer to Intimate Healing.
  • Heel Face Turn - Tatsuo, Haruhiko, Lan
  • Heroic Sacrifice - Matsuri and Kagetora taking on Grana and Shiner in order to make sure Haruhiko, Lan, and Chika get out alive, despite both being seriously injured
    • 07 does this to save the Drifters at the last second while Quat Nevas eats everything.
      • Or at least that is what she planned. Instead Grana and Miroku, of all people, sacrifice themselves to save the planet.
  • He's Back - Tatsuo
  • Hope Spot - There are many in the invasion on the W.I.S.E. capital: Most W.I.S.E. members including Miroku get defeated. Frederica gets healed. Marie is rescued. The other prisoners free themselves with Marco's newfound power. Lan teleports of to rescue them all. Grana kills destroys Mithra and tries to stop her plan together with Miroku. Then the world gets completely eaten anyway, with only the drifters surviving through timetravel.
    • Or not. The ending reveals that the future got saved by Miroku and Grana, who destroyed Quat Nevas by sacrificing themselves. Also Mirokus Tree of Life helped the planets vegetation to regrow.
  • Hot Dad - Ageha's father
  • Humanoid Abomination - Mithra was revealed as something in chapter 131.
  • Ho Yay - Has its own page.
  • I Did What I Had to Do - Iba's justification for letting Miroku escape was he couldn't bear seeing him in pain so much day to day, and he didn't realize what was going to happen as a result.
  • "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight - Hiryuu's reason for being in Psyren is to find his friend Tatsuo, who he believes vanished there. They eventually encounter him, but he has been turned into a Tavoo and is hunting down the Drifters.
  • Hypocritical Heartwarming - Fredrica invokes this when she goes berserk when someone other than herself makes Marie cry.
    • Inui claims he's the only one allowed to hurt his brother Saburou.
  • I Know Your True Name - Shao's Trance-aligned abilities take a form of this, where he's able to see who a person really is on the inside, whether it be a starry sky (that is, Ageha) or something far more terrifying, like THIS.
  • I Take Offense to That Last One: Ch. 82 - "I'll talk with you later, you bald idiot." "WHO'S BALD?!!"
  • Improbable Weapon User - The Scourge Ash appears to use coins.
  • Inconvenient Summons
  • Intimate Healing - Cure users are more effective with physical contact, and according to Ian they have to be able to open up to people.
  • It's a Small World After All - First with Ageha getting involved with Psyren when Sakurako was already a contender, then later when he finds out another of their old classmates (Hiryuu, who was also one of the few survivors of the "first" round) also made it to Psyren at the same time.
  • It's Personal - Dholaki with Ageha to the point he gets a Deadly Upgrade to try and kill him
  • Jerkass Facade - Fredrica
  • Kabbalah - Miroku's powers appear to have been named after the ten Sephirots of the Tree of Life.
  • Kansai Regional Accent - Fredrica speaks in one when she loses her temper.
  • Katanas Are Just Better - being stronger with Rise and Trance as opposed to Burst, Sakurako keeps a katana with her whenever she enters Psyren.
  • Kick the Dog - the DVD found in Psyren that shows Elmore's kids getting violently killed by the W.I.S.E. and the end of the Rescue Kagetora mini-arc when it turns out Inui's memories were altered and the eventual founder of W.I.S.E. murders him and inflicts possibly mortal damage on Kyle
    • Whenever Usui steals a card, he uses his Trance power to render them braindead.
    • Upon being discovered by Lan, Junas simply says, "the normal act is over", and proceeds to kill the volunteers who were helping move out the Harukaze orphanage.
    • To get Grana's attention, Amagi Miroku decides to sprout a Tree of Life in the middle of a highway, killing several people.
    • Iba asks The Mole to give his dying message to Amagi Miroku, is given the answer post-mortem, basically being told "Fuck that".
  • Kill'Em All - Not the series itself, but all timelines no matter what will end with Quat Nevas eating the planet and killing everybody on it unless the Drifters stop Miroku in the present. We see this happening at the conclusion of the final trip to Psyren. Well except for the last one, which gets ultimately rescued by Grana and Miroku.
  • Kill It with Fire - Fredrica's power. At her strongest she can create a blast of fire so large it is mistaken for a tsunami by the person being targeted. Kill it with fire indeed.
  • Kill Sat - "Nichirin Tentsui". Ouch.
  • Knife Nut - Junas in the present time.
  • Kuudere - Sakurako. She hardened herself so much when she started going to Psyren, it created a schism in her mind, and all of her stronger emotions took the form of Abyss. Ever since Ageha answered her plea to save her, she's been opening up more and more.
  • La Résistance - the Psyren Drifters and Elmore's Root, the latter probably fitting better.
  • Last Kiss - Kagetora and Matsuri before fighting Shiner and Grana
  • Lightning Bruiser - Kyle and Kagetora. When they fight, most people can't see what's going on.
  • Light Is Not Good - Grana, who's nickname is Ashura of the Heavens. He's one of the bad guys. Kind of.
    • Amagi is a much straighter example; his Bursts all glow white, and his Tree of Life is not nearly as benign as it sounds.
  • Loads and Loads of Characters - Two groups of antagonists, three groups of protagonists, and a few who don't fall in either group. Over 30 characters so far.
  • Love Triangle - Both Kagetora and Ian have proposed to Matsuri several times and been turned down.
    • Love Dodecahedron - Sakurako and Marie love Ageha, who confessed to the former and is oblivious to the latter. Shao loves Marie, who is also unaware, while Frederica and Misura have some Les Yay tendencies toward Marie (who even has her own Stalker with a Crush, Vigo). On top of that, Kabuto has a thing for both Frederica and Sakurako, and Oboro is really Ho Yay for Ageha. Did I miss anyone?
  • Ludicrous Gibs - most "psycho" villains, like Eiji Kise/Vigo, and Yusaka have a fascination with this. Crosses with Bloody Hilarious.
  • Luminescent Blush - Sakurako upon realizing she spilled out all of her feelings to Ageha, despite the facade she's built up for so long of imperviousness. Ageha gets one too upon remembering his response, both of which become full red faces.
  • Mad Artist - Eiji Kise sees himself as an artist. Everyone else sees him as an insane killer.
  • Made of Iron - Kagetora. Oh God Kagetora. He gets struck by lighting at point blank twice, is tortured, has a building fall on him, and still makes it out rather fine. He even gets stabbed in the forehead, and stops it from penetrating his skull with Rise against another Rise specialist. Hiryuu gains this title as well after falling from the stratosphere and surviving
  • Magnetic Villain - Amagi Miroku, as we are seeing currently, with him putting the W.I.S.E. together. Shao's description of Ageha as "a starry sky, with the stars getting more and more numerous" could imply how he pulls allies left and right, making him a played-straight Magnetic Hero.
  • Major Injury Underreaction - Mithra, courtesy of Vigo is stabbed through the chest and abdomen. They don't even flinch.
    • #03/Uranus gets one arm completely blown of by Frederica and calmly compliments the strength of her attack.
  • Marshmallow Hell - Adult Marie's response to seeing Ageha again
  • Master of Illusion - Sakurako's Insanity Size mindjack allows her to trap whoever breaks it in the illusion.
  • Mass Teleportation - Shiner's Hexagonal Transfer System and Lan's Trick Room.
  • Meaningful Name - Ageha is Japanese for a type of butterfly. This is most likely a reference to the Butterfly of Doom effect. Additionally you have Hiryuu, with his dragon-related attacks.
    • Abyss is a reference to Nietzsche's famous quote "And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you."
  • The Medic - Oboro, Van, and Ian. Hugging makes everything better.
  • Meganekko - Sakurako
  • Mental World - Kabuto has one, where a strange creature named "Yoyo" resides that claims to be the source of his powers.
  • Miniature Senior Citizens - Elmore Tenjiun
  • The Mole - Yusaka.
  • Moment Killer - the Elmore Kids spying on Ageha and Sakurako when they're about to kiss.
  • My Death Is Just the Beginning - Ageha kills Miroku in Psyren, while standing over a massive pit of souls. The souls that make up his body acted as a catalyst to trigger Mithra's ultimate goal.
  • My God, What Have I Done? - Koichi Iba's regrets over the experiments carried out at Grigori. Mainly because his ass is on the line, but also out of sympathy for the kids.
  • Naked First Impression - Amagi Miroku, to all of Japan as he makes his Declaration way ahead of schedule in Chapter 96.
    • His sister to Ageha and Sakurako as well, but she was trapped in a People Jar, so she has an excuse.
  • Names to Run Away From Really Fast - Nemesis Q.
  • Neck Snap - Shao does this to Vigo
  • Neural Implanting - Mundanes who work with Psychicers (namely Grigori researchers) have these, making them immune to Trance. Also the secret to the Grigori's power.
  • Never Bring a Knife to A Fist Fight: Kagetora demonstrates this trope to Junas, who uses his PSI powers in combination with a knife.
  • Next Sunday A.D. - The storyline takes place around 2008-2009. Psyren however, is located After the End.
  • Newspaper Dating - How Ageha and the others find out when the Day of Revolution will be.
  • Nice Hat - Junas and Fredrica.
  • Nice Girl - Marie
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero - Villainous version Through Miroku's efforts to create a new world he inadvertantly offered the world on a platter to a Cosmic Horror. Literally.
  • Non-Action Guy - Kabuto before he properly trained his unique power and Rise.
  • No Ontological Inertia - One of the key tools for determining how much the Drifters changed the future was a DVD of Miroku's Declaration. Once they start making serious timeline changes, the DVD's contents vanish entirely.
  • Not Quite Dead - As of chapter 121, Vigo.
  • Not So Different- Yusaka sees incredible similarities between Ageha and Miroku.
  • Official Couple - Ageha and Sakurako.
    • Fubuki and Ian in the future.
    • Yep, Kagetora and Matsuri are seen living together in the end.
  • Oh Crap - The reaction to Shiner and Dholaki ambushing the Drifters at their checkpoint and ganging up on them
    • Also Fredrica and Kyle's reaction to Grana's solar beam.
  • Older Than They Look - Ageha's Dad Asuka looks maybe a year or two older than Ageha himself.
    • Even ten years in the future.
    • In regard to Ageha's father this is brilliance in that one of his innate psy powers is slowing down time.
  • One-Hit Kill - Kyle does this to Dholaki
  • Only a Flesh Wound - at first this trope appears averted when Sakurako gets shot, but then it's played straight when Abyss takes over.
  • Only Six Faces
  • Organic Technology - In the future W.I.S.E use living machinery powered by Illumina. How it came about is the subject of some wild mass guessing.
  • Otaku - Kasukabe
  • Out of Focus - Understandable with such a huge cast, but 3 of the 5 main drifters suffer from pretty severe cases of this. The arcs in the present focus almost entirely on Ageha and Non-Drifters, while in the beginning of the fourth drift everyone except Ageha and Sakurako was put out of action for a varying amount of time.
    • The most glaring example has to be Hiryu: He was introduced early on as a childhood friend of the two main characters and was easily a main character himself in the first two drifts, but he only played relatively minor roles after that, was completely absent after the beginning of fourth drift and only plays a supporting role after returning in the fifth.
  • Pay Phone - In the Psyren world, they are used as gateways back to the present.
  • People Jars - In the Mukurojima facility Q's creator resides in one. Presumably she's too weak to get out.
  • Personality Powers - An aspect of several every character's PSI powers, but seen most in the Elmore Kids, Kabuto and Sakurako.
  • Pettanko - Fredrica and Sakurako.
  • Place of Power - Psyren's atmosphere grants psychic powers to those who breathe it in, and amplifies the powers of those with powers in it. The Tavoo cores take advantage of this and can actually use the psychic energy in the air as nourishment.
  • The Plague - Yusaka's weapon of choice is a sort of PSI-virus that leaves the nastiest rash and either kills or puts you out of business for a long time.
  • Power of Love - Chapters 121 and 122 reveal Asuka to be a firm believer in this.
  • Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner - Ageha delivers an absolutely beautiful one to Miroku as they face down in Psyren.

"Hindrance you say? Fine, she said you were trying to kill her... and you call me 'despicable?' You snatched away the lives of how many billions of people, and I'M the despicable one? What the fuck are you saying? WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY?"

  • Promotion to Parent - Fubuki, mainly because their father is a workaholic.
  • Psychic Nosebleed - the first thing that happens when a Drifter's powers activate
  • Psychic Powers - The main weapon of the Drifters of Psyren. Is very well-organized, and all abilities are divided into three categories. Burst is the manipulation of the environment and objects. Rise is the manipulation of the body to raise speed, senses, healing rate, and physical strength. Trance is the manipulation of the mind, like telepathy and illusion. Healing is done by combining Burst and Rise, and Visions occur by combining Rise (Sense) and Trance. The latter two are only usable by a small amount of people, with Kabuto being the only Visions user. And since chapter 122 there is said to be another category, Nova.
  • Power Incontinence - Ageha, until he learns how to better harness it from Elmore's Kids. Fredrica has fits of it every now and then when she loses her temper.
  • Power Limiter - Burst Stream is a PSI technique that distributes the pressure of using Psychic abilities around the Psychicer. It weakens the PSI technique significantly, but allows for better control. Ageha, Shao, and Fredrica need to use this in order to control their emotion-based powers that would otherwise work hell on their brains and probably kill them.
  • Power Nullifier - Haruhiko's Shotgun Bolt and White Shock will temporarily prevent a person from using PSI.
  • Power Perversion Potential: Amamiya's new ability to make Abyss manifest in reality just screams Twin Threesome Fantasy.
  • Psychic Static - It is possible through surgery to make oneself immune to Trance. This is essential for people who work with Psychicers who aren't empowered themselves, so they can't get mind-jacked or probed.
  • Quirky Miniboss Squad - Amakusa's Brain Beasts. Possibly the W.I.S.E. themselves.
    • Junas' underlings, The Scourge definately qualify for this.
  • Rage Against the Mentor - Taiga and Okugou
  • Rain of Blood - Yusaka. Crowbar. Mooks. Not pretty.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning - Yusaka, trope played straight after the reveal.
  • Red Shirt - Most of each new crop of Drifters, especially those who ignore Sakurako.
  • Engineer Exploited For Evil - Kasukabe
  • Rescue Arc - The Kagetora rescue mission and the Usui arc
  • Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory - Averted. The second time that Ageha and co. meet The Elmore Kids in the future, they remember everything differently from what we saw. They note that it's weird that Ageha doesn't remember his nephew Marco.
  • Scary Shiny Glasses - Yoshina Asuka, though possibly more realistically it was only one lens, meaning the light came from an angle.
  • Screw Destiny - The whole point of the manga. They're screwing it bit by bit.
  • Serial Killer - Eiji Kise.
  • Sexy Silhouette - Sakurako gets one in the fourth trip to Psyren when she needed to change clothes and talk to Ageha at the same time. Well at least she decided to do that all at once.
  • Shaggy Dog Story - No, not the series itself. Yet. The recent Infiltration arc has Ageha save Sakurako and Matsuri from Yusaka's virus after failing to save Iba in time, and going to active the device that will cancel out Miroku's powers. Turns out Yusaka is still alive, and takes the entire facility out with him, making everything they went through for nothing.
  • Ship Sinking - Ian marrying Fubuki smashed the love triangle between Matsuri, Ian, and Kagetora with a nuke. It could be argued that Masturi and Kagetora kissing before fighting Shiner and Grana sunk it far earlier.
    • There has been a lot of development for Ageha/Sakurako recently, including a mutual declaration of love. There goes Ageha/Marie, Ageha/Oboro and Kabuto/Sakurako, though neither stood much of a chance.
  • Shock and Awe - Haruhiko's aptly named "Shocker" and "Shotgun bolt" attacks.
  • Shut UP, Hannibal - Ageha does one to Inui, dismissing his whole "Pain"-philosophy, and later to Miroku, basically saying that if Miroku is following the path he thinks is right, he will follow his own path he thinks is right, so just shut up and fight.
  • Signature Move - This being shonen action, a lot of characters have this.
    • Let's make a list: Melchesse's Lance (Ageha), Wired Mind Jack (Amamiya), Dragon's Tail (Hiryu), Pyro Queen (Frederica), Material High (Kyle), Sepiroth "Gevurah" (Miroku), Nichirin "Tentsui" (Grana), Explosia (Dholaki), Shotgun Bolt (Haruhiko), Trick Room (Lan)...
  • Sleep Cute - Ageha and Oboro
  • Spider Sense - Kabuto's power "Menace".
    • To a lesser degree the whole "Sense" power in general.
  • Split Personality Takeover - When Amamiya is shot Abyss takes over momentarily. And Matsuri has implied that it's happened before.
  • Spy Catsuit - Matsuri dons one in Chapter 100, with generous cleavage showing. Ageha wears one too, but that was really Matsuri's chapter.
  • Stalker with a Crush - Vigo during the invasion arc.
  • The Starscream - Miroku tried being this to Mithra, but died before getting the chance.
  • Stepford Smiler - Shiner. He gets a bit scary when he stops smiling.
  • Storming the Castle - The Grigori Facility mini-arc and the Rescue Marie arc.
  • Sunglasses at Night - Matsuri and Ageha again, in their Spy Catsuits.
  • Super-Powered Evil Side - Sakurako.
  • Super Speed - "Rise" uses PSI to physically boost the body's strength, speed, and endurance. Almost all PSI users have some elements of this, but Oboro can move so fast that on his first try with Rise, Kagetora couldn't see him move. Arguably Kyle and Kagetora are the greatest example of this though.
  • Super Senses - The "Sense" category of "Rise", naturally. Kabuto seems to be especially adept in this, even before his powers awakened.
  • Super Strength - "Rise" also boosts raw physical power. The greatest examples are arguably Kagetora, Grana and Hiryu.
  • Superpower Lottery - Training plays an important role, but some people's natural inclinations make them overall stronger than others. You generally have three categories of Lottery Winners. People capable of using Nova (Asuka, Sakurako, Ageha, which is obtained through serious training, but even some very strong characters can't use it), anybody who is a Grigori (Most of the W.I.S.E. and Nemesis Q, though getting that power wasn't pretty), and those who just have insane power combinations or are proficient with all types of PSI (Shao, Matsuri, Kabuto, Sakurako again, Nemesis Q again).
  • Super Mode: Nova, the PSI power Asuka discovered, is this. His hair turns a lighter color, and he then lays a beat down on Junas, but then it runs out quickly. May cross over with One-Winged Angel.
    • And now Ageha and Amamiya have learned it too. In Amamiya's case it lets her fight together with her other half "Abyss" while enhancing the abilities of both and Ageha surrounds himself with Melchesse's Door to manifest a One-Winged Angel form called "Raging King".
  • Sweet Tooth - Van. In the Tankoubon notes, Sakurako has a mild one, especially with strawberries.
  • Sword Beam - Junas, though he's able to do so with any bladed weapon really.
  • Tap on the Head - Vigo does this to Marie.
  • Tear Jerker - Ian in chapter 70.
    • Chapter 102.

Then tell him...thank you for letting me live, after all of the horrible things I did. Thank you... for forgiving me. Number 6, do you remember what today is? Happy...Birthday...

    • Chapter 124
  • Technopath: Kasukabe's ability.
  • Teleport Spam - Shiner's favored method of combat. He uses it to dodge attacks, separate Sakurako, Oboro, and Hiryuu from their strongest psychicer and the guy who can predict attacks, as well as send Hiryuu 4,000 meters in the air to fall to his apparent death. Later on he uses Teleportation to rip out a chunk of space from this dimension, attempting to leave everybody else in it stranded.
  • Thanatos Gambit - several pulled off at the end. Miroku and Grana attempt one to thwart Mithra. It (appears to) fail, but the rather rushed ending shows that it actually succeeded, after that timeline's No. 7 had hit the Despair Event Horizon, sending everyone back.
    • A second one sees 07 embedding a phone card inside Ageha with all of his and her's memories of Psyren, in hopes that Miroku would pierce Ageha with his Sephiroth, and all of it would be transferred to him. It succeeds.
  • The Glasses Come Off - When Kagetora fights Junas, his trademark sunglasses come off, showing he's absolutely serious and in his own words "killing may be a necessity now"
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech - 07 has delivered two to Miroku. Once when she refused to join him after their escape from Grigori, and once when they meet again in Psyren.
  • There Is No Kill Like Overkill - Fredrica operates on this philosophy. It won't burn? MAKE MORE FIRE! Still not burning? MAKE IT HOTTER! Still won't burn? Repeat steps 1 and 2 repeatedly.
  • This Is My Story - Ageha does this upon meeting Miroku in the present after Psyren is destroyed.
  • Transporters and Teleporters - Again, Lan and Shiner, though Lan's is better suited for this.
  • Time Travel - One of Nemesis Q's PSI ability. Upgraded to dimension travel in the ending, where 07/Q reaches across the multiverse to deliver one last, psychic Bright Slap.
  • Tin Man - All Grigori subjects are supposedly unable to feel emotion. However, from their actions you wouldn't be able to tell. Grana seems to have fully developed them, or at least can emulate emotions perfectly.
  • Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe - It also seems to be the center of W.I.S.E. attacks.
  • Too Dumb to Live - If somebody says they have been here before, listen to them.
  • Took a Level in Badass - As of chapter 118, Kabuto.
    • Also the children after 10 years, naturally.
  • Tranquil Fury - Asuka displays this when he confronts Junas who had just impaled his son through the abdomen.
  • Unflinching Walk - Kabuto does during their fight with Ash. Inverted slightly due to walking through/past the explosions rather than from them.
  • Vampire Detective Series - In universe example, according to the Tankoubon notes Oboro starred in "Vampire Detective Cross Ice", a television series.
  • Victorious Childhood Friend - The plot rarely reminds you that Ageha and Amamiya are childhood friends. It still happened between them nonetheless.
  • The Voiceless - Van only says a few things in French until he breaks out of his shell
    • Nemesis Q is also not very talkative - at least, until she needs help.
  • Unlikely Hero: Before he was first called by Nemesis Q, Ageha was simply an athletic high school student that was willing to help people in need (for the right price.)
  • Waif Prophet - Mithra.
  • Wall Slump
  • Wax Museum Morgue - It's revealed in a flashback that Eiji Kise had a sculpture variant of this.
  • Wham! Episode - The three biggest so far would probably be when they watch the DVD from the future, Chapter 64, with it's Big Damn Heroes by the Elmore Kids, and Chapter 140, where Psyren is destroyed and all of it's residents die.
  • What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic - Once the future begins looking really murky and uncertain, the DVD disappears, symbolizing nothing is set in stone anymore.
    • Kasukabe notes that if he and Tatsuo go too close to the sun, the effects of the membrane won't work and they'll die because of their Illuminas Forges. This is (perhaps unintentionally) very similar to the myth of Icarus and Daedelus.
  • Worf Barrage - Ageha's main power "Melchesse's Door" and specifically the "Lance"-version of it are described as an almost unstoppable power that homes in on PSI and just devours it (and everything nearby). While it really serves as an One-Hit Kill early on, starting with the second encounter with Dholaki it just gets overpowered or deflected by most of it's targets. The same is true for the "Sphere" which was an effective shield on it's first use, but later got easily shattered by Junas.
  • The Worf Effect - Grana gets Worfed by Grigori 03 after just losing a fight to Miroku. The latter doesn't really apply since Miroku was solidly established as the Big Bad before. A more recent example has both Shao and Ageha losing to Junas in one chapter.
    • Hiryu's main contribution to most major battles seems to be taking hits and getting almost killed, despite him being very strong and talented with PSI.
  • X Meets Y - Gilgamesh meets Gantz more or less.
  • Yandere - Sakurako´s dark inner self is Ax Crazy and pretty really obsessed with Ageha.
    • Miroku has these tendencies towards his sister, Grigori 07.
  • Year Inside, Hour Outside - An application of Yoshina Asuka's gravity powers.
  • You Are Number Six - The Grigori research facility, rather than name their subjects, dehumanizes them by giving them numbers. So far the following have been accounted for- Grigori 01 AKA Grana, Grigori 03 AKA Uranus , Grigori 05 AKA Junas, Grigori 06 AKA Amagi Miroku, and Grigori 07 AKA Nemesis Q.
  • You Can't Fight Fate - The Elmore kids and Tenjuin Elmore die in the future, but Ageha and co. changed that by saving Kagetora. Not.
    • Subverted. Evidently Ageha and Co. have done enough to fight fate, and the Elmore kids are still alive in the future.
    • Double Subverted. Even if Ageha stops Miroku, the timeline he just left where the kids survived is still a doomed hellhole.
    • Finally subverted in the final chapter with both timelines getting a happy ending.
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair - Sakurako and Ageha. Nemesis Q's creator too.
  • You Shall Not Pass - Matsuri and Kagetora sacrifice their lives taking on Grana and Shiner to save Haruhiko, Lan, and Chika
  • Zettai Ryouiki - Amamiya Sakurako.
    • Future Fredrica.
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