World Embryo

World Embryo is a manga by the creator of Chrono Crusade, Moriyama Daisuke.

Riku Amami, your average Ordinary High School Student, receives a call from his long-lost aunt and stepmother's younger sister, Amane. She asks him to meet her in the hospital he was hospitalized at several years ago. When arriving there, he hears a woman scream. Thinking it is Amane, he instead finds a gang of criminal youths who are attempting to rape a girl. Meanwhile, his entrance into the hospital has been spotted by two other young people, Rena and Yohei. They save Riku from the criminal youth gang, who run off. Yohei is revealed to be one of Riku's old friends from the period he was hospitalized.

Suddenly, all mobile phones in the building ring. Riku tries to answer his, but is stopped by Rena and Yohei. The youth gang, whose leader was just phoning for reinforcements on his mobile phone, do move to answer their phones. Just then, their leader's eyes split vertically, the eye halves turning away from each other, while his body is shaking. The other gang members notice this and ask what is wrong.

Cue next scene where a horrible monster with the gang leader's transformed face shows up behind the window behind Riku. Holding the shredded corpse of another gang member. Rena and Yohei see this, and Riku turns around. Seeing the horrible creature, Riku screams in horror and flees, still holding his mobile phone. Yohei tells Rena to deal with the monster, called Kanshuu, and goes to look for Riku. He finds him, but they are attacked by more Kanshuus. Riku flees again as Yohei defends him. Elsewhere in the building, Riku is attacked by another Kanshuu and then finds a mysterious cocoon, which once Riku touches it promptly kills the Kanshuu. The next day Riku wakes up in his bed and wonders if it all was a dream. Then he spots the cocoon sitting next to his bed...

Later that day at school, Riku remembers what happened at the old hospital. Remembering the monsters, and thinking of the cocoon, he realizes it too could contain a monster. He goes home, only to find his step-mother cowering on the table holding a frying pan, because some horrible creature is wandering around. After some hijinks involving his step-mother and the cocoon, he touches it again, and something emerges from the cocoon. Not a monster, but a little girl closely resembling Amane when she was only a kid...

After that, he enters a world beyond the scope of memories, filled with sorrow and heartwarming moments, all leading up to the Embryo.

A character sheet is in the works.

Tropes used in World Embryo include:
  • Accidental Pervert: Riku almost ends up one after he walks over Yui.
  • A Man Is Not a Virgin: Averted, Riku is very much one.
    • Lampshaded with Neene, who calls him "Daddy". Which leads to some...misunderstandings...
      • Lampshade repeated later with Rena. Which makes it even more hilarious.
  • Action Girl: Rena.
  • An Aesop: "The lies you tell end up hurting someone. And someday, they will come back to you."
  • Applied Phlebotinum: Jinki.
  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Sayoko/ Ende's cage after she got pissed off.
  • The Atoner / Must Make Amends: Ryuusei for his home, Riku for his lies, the chairwoman for releasing Shirou, Rena for her family, and Shirou for his actions. It's basically a theme at this point.
  • Author Appeal: In some of the omakes of the Chrono Crusade manga, Daisuke Moriyama showcases some of his Otaku obsessions: girls in School Swimsuit, sports wear and school uniforms, Maids, nurse uniforms, etc. Guess what shows up a lot in World Embryo? volume 5 of the manga showcases all of it.
  • Little Miss Badass: Clara.
  • Badass Longcoat: Rena.
  • Badass Normal: Takao.
  • Barbie Doll Anatomy: Gladly averted.
  • Beach Episode: A rare example where it actually advances the plot.
  • Becoming the Mask: Whether this happened/happens or not is a major plot point.
  • Beleaguered Childhood Friend: Inverted with Riku and Yohei. although Yohei doesn't live long enough to get the whole story from Riku.
  • Berserk Button: Do not insult Riku's family in front of him.
    • Takao was the very picture of The Stoic; he fights and murders without the slightest change in expression. However, once Youhei asked him for a spare Jinki core to save Riku, he completely loses it.
  • Bifurcated Weapon: Riku's weapon changes into one after getting a second Jinki core. The sword guard detaches from the hilt and can be used as a dagger.
  • Big Bad: The Contamination Source.
  • Big Brother Attraction: Between Riku and Amane. Deranged and creepy version, considering Riku's behaviour in his flashback to when he was younger.
  • Bilingual Bonus: In Japanese, Cage is written as Keiji. The characters used to write keiji have to do with the sphere of consciousness that resonates within a person.
  • Body Horror: Transforming into a Kanshuu. Except Kanshuu-Riku, whose transformation only included some minor changes.
    • Same thing also happened to Kurosawa; It's safe to assume that at least one person who got close to the Coffin Princess will be spared from being mindless Kanshuu.
      • Later it is revealed that Jinki are pieces of Julie, another Coffin Princess, which explains why it stop Jinki users from becoming mindless Kanshuu
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: Nagase does this after catching Rena with his Jinki as she fell off a building. She is then hanging upside down with the Jinki wrapped around her leg with the tip close to her crotch (Does This Remind You of Anything?) and he makes a comment that it is not a very flattering position to be shown in in a manga.
    • After a 9-chapter flashback, one character complains, "Feels like you've been telling that story for at least 9 months."
  • Bridge Bunnies: The NEFT's three female operators. Except that their captain is female.
  • Brother-Sister Incest: Riku and his (step)-sister Amane. Averted when Amane tells Riku she'll decide what her answer is after she has done what she has to do. Which never happens due to her disappearance.
  • Caught with Your Pants Down: Twice in the first volume:
    • The gang wanting to take turns having sex with the unnamed girl, near the start of the volume, by Riku.
    • Forced on Riku just a moment later, by the same gang. Appears to be initially averted, until you turn the page, and Rena blushes and tells Riku to put his pants back up.
  • Chainsaw Good: Riku's Jinki is a sword combined with one. It can move on its own, too.
  • Chekhov's Skill: Riku is in the Kendo club. Guess what his Jinki is.
  • Class Representative: Rena and Riku. Justified in-story by Rena, so they could talk to each other without raising suspicions. Used for plot by Riku.
  • Consummate Liar: Riku Amami is an expert at this, though it backfires on him at several points in the story.
  • Covert Pervert: Several:
    • Shizuru, with Riku as her victim:
      • Seriously starting with Riku and Neene's shower scene, when she first suggests Riku might be a Lolicon, and then continues when Riku throws water over Neene's head, prompting Shizuru to burst into the bathroom, suggesting she has been listening at the door the whole time.
    • Ms. Suzu, Hayato's maid. She blushes when talking about Hayato's bath, and has some other little slips when take care of him.
    • Nanami. In Spades.
  • Daddy's Girl: Neene. Played for laughs. Later also Mommy's Girl with Rena. Becoming Harsher in Hindsight with recent revelation.
  • Deader Than Dead: Nagase after having his Jinki hand and head cut off by Takao.
    • The poor Jinki User who got shredded in Chapter 69, and everyone else that meets the black beast..including Nanami.
  • Dead Little Sister: Lots:
    • Amane to Riku.
    • Yohei and Rena's tutor to Rena.
    • Yohei's teacher and a currently unspecified second person to Yohei.
    • Sayoko to Sawako and Kurasawa.
    • Yasora to Nanami
    • Nanami to Riku.
  • Defensive Feint Trap: Subverted with Riku in the first volume. Of course it fails and he gets his ass kicked. Double subverted when Yohei and Rena show up.
  • The Ditz: Shizuru, at times. Especially the breastfeeding Neene episode. One has to wonder how she survives at work.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen: Arisugawa's character development. Bonus points because her nickname is actually Ice. (Arisu-->Aisu-->Ice)
  • Draco in Leather Pants: In-universe example: Takao. He reportedly killed seven people on a train to try out his new sword and killed fifty of his schoolmates during his graduation ceremony... and he's extremely popular among the netizens and the teenagers.
  • Enemy Mine: Takao and Ende are working together against the new threat. Which is Neene
  • Face Palm: By Riku, in reaction to Shizuru. Repeatedly.
  • Facial Markings: Jinki users get them when theirs is activated.
  • Fan Service: Various:
  • Five-Man Band: F.L.A.G.
  • Foregone Victory: Rena and Riku's fight end up with one of these for Rena. She doesn't like it, because Riku let her win.
  • Foreshadowing: Whenever Neene has dreams of her ascending some stairs, Amane pulls her back. Similarly, when Ende tries to deny Neene's access to the embryo, Amane appears, and Ende is visibly shocked. Cue chapter 72, with the revelation that Amane is the third, true Coffin Princess.
  • Full-Name Basis: Rena to Riku early on.
  • The Glasses Come Off: Riku and Rena. In Rena case, her glasses are art of her "disguise".
    • In Riku's case, only when his Jinki is activated.
  • Freak-Out: Being betrayed by Takao is the last straw of Kurosawa's mind; he decided then that all Humans Are the Real Monsters and executing his plan to destroy Hatsumi Island. Well, while actually Takao is more like "getting caught" than "actively betraying".
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom: Takao and Kanshuu-Riku do this.
  • Hair Colors: Riku's hair is white with violet streaks when his Jinki is activated, while it is black normally.
  • Handicapped Badass: Hayato.
  • He Is Not My Boyfriend:
    • Rena blushes and panicks when Ms. Suzu notices Rena is holding Riku's hand in Volume 3 and say they appear to be good friends.
    • Riku and Rena at school or with school friends. Repeatedly. Made worse by Neene.
  • Hero-Killer: Takao easily dispatches Jinki users without breaking a sweat.
  • Heroic BSOD: multiples:
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Yohei gave his Jinki core to Riku to stop him turning into a Kanshuu, turning himself into a Kanshuu in the process.
    • Neene sacrifices herself to stop rampaging Ende. Made more poignant with her calling Riku a liar, while it is clear that he begin to sincerely cares for Neene, not just as Replacement Goldfish for Amane.
    • Rena's family tried to indoctrinate Rena to do this if Julie ever went out of control. Rena hates them for it.
    • Time will tell if he'll go through with it, but Riku holding himself hostage seems to indicate a willingness to pull this off.
  • He Who Fights Monsters: Most of NEFT Jinki users, also Takao.
  • Hollywood Hacking: Averted when Hayato hacks into the NEFT's network. It takes time and the data download is not completed.
  • Hot Shounen Mom: Shizuru. Even if she's only Riku's stepmother.
  • The Hunter: Takao, who hunts Jinki users.
  • "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Youhei and Riku.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Youhei, who dies of it. Also Riku. Multiple times.
  • Impossibly Cool Weapon: Riku. It's a sword which would put Ichigo to shame... WITH A CHAINSAW!
      • Then it combined with Nanami's Jinki core, turned into sword and tonfa combination. Not only that, but it also can give other Jinki user Status Buff.
    • This.
    • Clara's weapon is a gokart/helicopter flail.
  • It's All My Fault: Riku never says it aloud, but he realizes that almost every bad thing that happened to his loved ones is his fault and goes into a Heroic BSOD.
  • Katanas Are Just Better: Guess what Takao's main weapon is?
  • Kill the Cutie: Poor, poor Yui...
  • Knight in Sour Armor: Make a guess. Hint: He's a Badass Longcoat Katana user.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: The "Lost Rebound".
  • Likes Older Women: Riku has been accused of this...and considering that Amane was older than him and his interest in Nanami, they may have a point.
  • Lone Wolf: As Youhei said, Riku has a tendency to act alone and not rely on his friends. It's both his strength and his weakness, and eventually his loner tendencies bites him in the ass.
  • Love Makes You Evil: Karasawa only wanted to revive Ende in order to reunite with Sayoko. He ends up killing countless civilians, turning people into Kanshu, and inducing Lost Rebound in their relatives to do it.
  • Meido: Ms. Suzu.
  • Mega Corp: The NEFT.
  • Meganekko: Rena. Only in school uniform.
  • Murder Is the Best Solution: Takao embodies this. Considering that most of his targets are Kanshuu or potential Kanshuu, probably it is really best solution available.
  • Mysterious Waif: Neene.
  • Naughty Tentacles: Nanami's Jinki, of all things.
  • Nakama: Quite a recurrent theme among the F.L.A.G. members, especially Joe. Riku doesn't really buy it.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Several times.
    • Yui, I've come to help you.... Oops, sorry for getting you hit by Jinki....
    • Yeah, that bastard Kurasawa finally killed.... Oops, nobody to hold the leash for Ende....
    • Practically the whole story up until chapter 64 is an entire string of Riku doing this.
  • Nosebleed: Riku has one when Neene sounds 'so like an adult'.
  • Not So Different: Riku finally realizes that he and Kurasawa was like this. It gives him Heroic BSOD... until he saw Rena.
    • Grown-up!Neene points out that what she's doing is similar with what Rena was doing (using cute appearances and mind manipulation to get what they want; Rena, her freedom, Neene, embryo revival).
  • The Masquerade: What NEFT is doing. But considering that the alternative is reminding people of the Kanshu victims and inducing Lost Rebound everywhere, it's a logical option.
  • The Obi-Wan: Yohei.
  • Obliviously Evil: Grown-up!Neene doesn't really understand the consequences about taking people's Jinki's core. To make it worse, it seems that the entities that communicate with her this whole time is only concerned about reviving the embryo, consequences to humanity be damned.
  • Only Mostly Dead: Riku. Repeatedly.
  • Panty Shot: Rena. Yui.
  • Passing the Torch: How Riku got his Jinki from Youhei, and how Youhei got his. Doubles as a Take Up My Sword moment since when you lose your Jinki core, you turn into a Kanshu.
  • Pettanko: Rena, lampshaded mercilessly.
  • Poor Communication Kills: If everybody just can sit and talk a little for a moment, some deaths and tragedy can be avoided.
    • Riku, lying around your nakama didn't help.
    • Sawako, acting distrustful toward a Person of Mass Destruction is generally a bad idea.
      • She got a point, though, last time she listen for infected people (her fiancee) it backfired spectacularly, and she ended with abortion and inability to pregnant,
    • Takao, why'd you just keep hunting Jinki Users indefinitely, instead of talking with them?!
      • Justified: The Jinki was born of Julie's death. To revive Julie, he has to gather every last Jinki nucleus in the world. Jinki Users turn into Kanshuu should they lose their nucleus. Make of that what you will.
  • Precision F-Strike: Made even stronger, considering who Riku was talking to. See World of Cardboard Speech below.
  • Razor Wind: Youhei's Jinki is this crossed with Wave Motion Sword.
  • Redemption Equals Death: Strangely, Kurosawa. His last action after being shot is asking Neene to stop Ende from wreaking havoc. He also shows Riku his memories in meta world with Julie, not to justify himself but To help Riku getting into terms with his own action and mistakes.
  • Refusal of the Call: In actuality, there are many more Jinki users than the ones at NEFT; it's just that they chose to remain indifferent to the Kanshu.
    • The risk of being hunted down by Takao may also be the reason.
  • Reliable Traitor: Played with. Riku's quite reliable... but he also can be treacherous.
  • Replacement Goldfish: Coffin Princesses. Born by imprinting a dead person onto a cocoon, they grow into a clone of the said person that grows quickly and gains memories of the people they copied by eating other people memories. Neene is Amane's, Ende is Sayoko's, and Julie is Takao's mother's.
    • Riku and Nanami for their respective Older sister and Younger brother.
  • Ret-Gone: Kanshuu. Played for all is worth
  • Sacrificial Lion: Arguably Yohei. While he dies early in the plot, his character was shaping up to be a permanent mentor to Riku.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Riku goes to new levels in Chapter 71, when Nanami and the others are killed.
  • Ship Sinking: So you've started shipping Riku/Yui? Too bad Yui turns out to be a Takao Fan Girl. Started shipping Takao/Yui? Too bad she ends up dying...
  • Shout-Out: The cage (shield) looks just like an AT field from Neon Genesis Evangelion when it deflects a hit.
    • Later on, Neene is watching the anime version of Daisuke Moriyama's previous manga Chrno Crusade on TV.
    • Some of the Kanshuu shown in the background of Riku's story attempt at diverting Yui from Takao (which backfires spectacularily) ressemble Ultraman characters.
    • Takao's style seems based on Dante.
  • Shower Scene: Riku and Neene, which also lampshades the traditional Japanese bathing scene involving daddy and his daughter. Rena (includes naked Transformation Sequence).
  • Shrinking Violet: Kind of subverted, since it seems that Yui is a lot more confrontational than she first appears
  • Smug Snake: NEFT's Chairwoman Sawako Tokiji.
  • Snowball Lie: What Riku is good at. Played straight, deconstructed, reconstructed, etc. Evolves into Blatant Lies played straight with the help of Neene.
  • Sprouting Ears: Neene does this at crucial moments. Normally they are also present, but closed.
  • Start of Darkness: The Hatsumi Island arc.
  • Stern Teacher: Rena to Riku.
  • Stuff Blowing Up: The NEFT HQ meets this fate.
  • Subordinate Excuse: Inverted with Rena and Riku. Rena says she'll teach Riku only little time after her first obvious He Is Not My Boyfriend moment. Sometimes bordering on Bodyguard Crush.
  • Super-Powered Evil Side: Kanshuu-Riku. Just stay out of his way.
  • Super Senses: The cage essentially provides additional sight outside the Jinki user or Kanshuu's body.
    • Kanshuu-Riku uses this to look through the NEFT's security camera's and uncover the NEFT's chairwoman's lies.
  • Take My Hand: "There had been 3 people (Rena, Yohei, Takao) who grabbed my hand... but she (Rena, during her own Heroic BSOD) was the first one whose hand I grabbed."
  • The Dreaded: Takao as the Jinki Hunter, has a great deal of the 30+ Jinki Users too scared to leave their homes.
  • Token Mini-Moe: Clara is one for F.L.A.G. Neene counts at first, but she rapidly grows out of this status.
  • To the Pain: Riku's tactics for getting information. Not that he'll really going with it....
  • Trauma Conga Line: Poor Riku. A classmate dies as a result of his lies, which gets him to start doubting his actions and lose control of his emotions. Then Neene disappears in front of his eyes, protecting him and Rena, just as he realizes how precious she is to him, not as a means of bringing Amane back but as Neene herself. After that, Karasawa indulges him in a little information via flashback - that he and Riku were pretty much identical to each other. This breaks him even further, compounded with the grief from having lost Neene. He bounces back a bit after returning, though, in which he then gives up on Amane and decides to embrace his present, especially the people important to him now. Nanami, the one who made him have that realization, then dies, and he and Rena arrive on the scene just long enough to see her body disintegrate to dust, save her decapitated head. Intent on having his revenge, he chases after the Kanshuu responsible, only to stumble onto a very much alive and older Neene - who is then taken over by Amane, and is revealed to be a Coffin Princess. Even worse, Amane reveals to him that everything up until that point was thanks to Riku's actions after having received Amane's text message calling out to him - and because of that, indirectly or directly, he was responsible for all the deaths and destruction that have occurred. Poor kid just can't catch a break.
  • Tsundere: Guess who.
  • Unresolved Sexual Tension: Two people whose names start with 'R'. Hilariously lampshaded with one of them.
  • Unstoppable Rage: Takao, after Yohei asked him the wrong thing. It didn't turn out well for both of them.
    • Also Riku has his moment in Chapter 52.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Neene and Kanshuu/Jinki Riku's ears. The first time anyone at NEFT mentions Neene's extra ears is when she's stuck in an MRI machine, but they're obvious any time she isn't wearing a hat. This is especially bizarre considering NEFT was scrambling to figure out the source of infection when Riku was still a Kanshuu-thing, when he and Neene had the same peculiar ears on their heads in the middle of a heavily monitored anti-Kanshuu safe room. Probably working as intended, however, as it has since been revealed that Neene can make you forget that you're looking at her while you're staring at her.
  • Was It All a Lie?: Riku questions this after it is revealed that he had been manipulated to raise Neene.
  • Wham! Line: Chapter 67, starting up another mystery

Riku: Tougo-kun said that you(Shizuru) and Amane-nee aren't really sisters...

    • Chapter 71, after Riku finds Neene

Neene: Good Morning, Papa...

    • Chapter 73 brings again this world-shaking lines:

Neene: You managed to come all this way just with that text. I knew I could count on you to do it.

SHUT THE HELL UP YOU FUCKING BITCH!!! WHAT'S WRONG WITH IT?! WHAT'S WRONG WITH PEOPLE ENTRUSTING THEIR HOPES!? SHUT UP AMANE-NEE!! I'VE BEEN LISTENING TO YOU TALK ALL HIGH AND MIGHTY!! ACTING LIKE YOU'RE SOME SORT OF LOFTY FINAL BOSS!! THIS IS WHAT YOU WANTED TO ACCOMPLISH BY FOOLING EVERYONE!? WHAT A LOAD OF BULLSHIT!! ESSENTIALLY, WE'RE IN THIS MESS BECAUSE WE'RE BEING MANIPULATED BY THAT THING, RIGHT!? THEN DESTROYING IT WILL SOLVE EVERYTHING, WON'T IT!? I WILL DO IT MYSELF!! I'LL WRECK UP THIS WHOLE FUCKED UP DEVELOPMENT!! I'M GOING TO DESTROY IT ALL!!! AND I'M GOING TO SAVE THE WORLD!!!!

  • Yandere: A rare male example: Riku, concerning Amane. A classmate who spoke bad of her ended up in hospital after Riku had a Heroic BSOD.
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