Chrome Shelled Regios

Chrome Shelled Regios is set on Earth After the End. There the remaining population survives inside domed, mobile, cities called Regios. These are needed to protect from the horribly polluted atmosphere and giant man-eating Filth Monsters.

The series protagonist Layfon Alseif, arrives at the academy city of Zuellni with the intent to leave his past behind him and start over as a general studies student. However, he demonstrates his true abilities saving a girl who got caught up in the destruction of a fight between two military arts students. Despite not wanting to fight he is forced into the military arts department which is used for defense of the city as well as competing in intercity matches for valuable resources.

A series of Light Novels that has 4 (Yes, 4!) Manga adaptations, 2 novel spin-offs (a prequel and a sidestory) and an Anime adaption.

The novels can be read here.

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Tropes used in Chrome Shelled Regios include:

• All There in the Manual — Reading the novels and manga can help you understand the series setting and its Techno Babble.
• Absurdly Powerful Student Council — The Student Council President is effectively in charge of the entire city, including its defense against the Horde of Alien Locusts
  • An example of just how absurdly powerful he is, is when he makes a phone call, and has his assistant hold the phone up to his head, for no reason other than he can.
• Action Girl — Nina, Dalsheena, Synola
• After the End — Earth. Ironically it became the way it is after the UN tired to solve Earth's Energy Crisis due to World War III. It worked at first but then It Got Worse.
• Applied Phlebotinum — Selenium. Also, each Regios is run by an electronic fairy.
• Authority Equals Asskicking — Nina in the mangas and novels. Which is the reason why she was made the youngest Platoon Captain and leads...
• Badass Crew — The 17th Platoon of Zuellni.
• Badass Longcoat — Sharnid during his days in the tenth platoon, and briefly again in episode 14.
  • In the Legend of Regios sequences the gun man certainly has this going on.
• Beach Episode — Even though they're actually at a pool it's a Watermelon Smashing away from it not making a difference.
• Battle Aura — Color Coded for Your Convenience!
  • Though the colors have little to do with the personality or alignment of the characters.
• Bilingual Bonus — Attempted, unfortunately it didn't quite work....
  • Not in the sense that what is actually being said is bad, though; it's the way they pronounce it, mainly. (Though some of the acting does seem to be getting slightly better over time.)
• Blood Knight — Some members of the Heavens Blades just love to fight especially the Queen herself.
• Bottle Fairy — Synola
• Casanova — Sharnid
• Cash Cow Franchise — How would you explain its numerous adaptations and spin-offs?
• Catgirl — How Shante acts sometimes. Even her helmet has cat ears!
  • It's more like Monkey Girl. Her character looks like it's based off either the Monkey King or Nezha, both from Chinese mythology, or a mix of the two.
• Crowning Moment of Heartwarming — Layfon's desperation and despair in Nina's disappearance in episode 19.
  • Not to mention, their awesome hug in the end.
• Crowning Music of Awesome — The music of the anime is great to listen, even the ending song by the band Chrome Shelled especially the duet versions with the female cast.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass — Layfon may look like a weak nice guy but if you ever harm his friends and those he cares, get ready for a painful ass kicking!
• Cursed with Awesome — both Felli and Layfon have... mixed feelings about their superpowers
• Little Miss Snarker — Felli Loss.
• Damsel in Distress — Leerin.
• Dual-Wielding — Nina.
• Mr. Fanservice: Admit it ladies, Layfon is just that good looking.
• Exposition Break — Scenes occuring in Grendan (Layfon's hometown) largely amount to this. The Legend of Regios sequences (See Blind Idiot Translation and Gratuitous English).
• Emotionally Repressed Girl — Felli, as a psychokinetic she can't feel emotions the same way as others.
• First Kiss — Layfon and Leerin had their first kiss with each other after Layfon left Grendan.
  • Nina has her first kiss with Layfon.
• First-Name Basis — Felli and "Fon-Fon"
• Genki Girl — Mifi
• Gratuitous English — most episodes of the anime have a scene (An Exposition Break entitled "Legend of Regios", which establishes how The End of the World as We Know It came about) entirely in English.
  • The English grammar is actually correct... it's just the pronunciation is horrible
• Green Aesop — Let's see, air so polluted you need protective gear to go outside, "Filth" Monsters, I wonder...
• Guns Akimbo, Gun Kata — Sharnid
• Horde of Alien Locusts — The filth monsters can consume pollutants but humans are the preferred option.
• Ice Queen — Felli Loss, lampshaded by the fear normal girls have of her.
• I Did What I Had to Do — Layfon's justification for participating in underground matches and attempting to kill the person who was blackmailing him in a Heaven's Blade selection match. Thankfully Nina was able understand and forgive Layfon on what he did. The anime on the other hand she forgave him by the next episodes end.
• I Just Want to Be Normal — Layfon
• Invocation — "Restoration!", also used as an "On the Next Episode of..." Catchphrase.
• Kaiju — The Filth Monsters.
• Katanas Are Just Better — Played straight and subverted. Almost every single character used a weapon other than a katana, and they aren't really being shown as inferior to those (few) that do use katanas. However, the protagonist, Layfon Alseif, who has been using a standard sword the entirety of the series, gets his greatest Crowning Moment of Awesome after fusing two different kinds of Infinity+1 Sword s together. Partially justified in that all of his training focused on katana-using, and it was just a personal vow of repentance that kept him from using it the whole time.
• King Incognito — Synola
• Lady of War — Siena.
• Maid of Moe and when that doesn't work well, Maid of Sexy — Felli Loss
• Mama Bear — Synola to Leerin.
• Ojou — Felli Loss
• Older Than They Look — Shante is actually 20 years old! Queen Synola is more older than she looks but just don't mention that to her if you value your life.
• Private Military Contractors — The Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang.
• Power Glows — The Kei used by the military artists.
• Power Incontinence — Felli's Psychic Powers apparently experience a leak every so often.
• Princess Curls — Siena.
• Psychic Powers — Psychometers are people whose Kei has essentially given them these.
• Sempai-Kohai — Felli is Layfon's sempai, but she hates being called that.
• Sleep Cute: Harley Sutton falls asleep on Layfon's shoulder on a bus trip. Nina looked like she wanted to strangle something or someone.
• Rebellious Princess — Nina is actually the heir to the city of Sheniebel. But she felt her freedom was restricted by her parents since she wanted to do more to protect people rather than just being the next heir. When her parents wouldn't allow her freedom, she ran away from home to study at Zuellni which her parents in turn disown her.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something — Queen Alsheyra enjoys fighting Filth monster very, very much. Also played straight for Nina
• Serious Business — Conflicts between cities are settled with games of what very strongly resembles capture the flag, which decides whether the opposing cities get to keep the other city's Selenium mines (the source of energy for the cities) or not.
  • It's also only the Academy Cities that have the capture the flag rules- to hold down the body count. It's implied other city types are more... unrestrained in fighting.
  • Kei users. Justified since its their powers that help the Regios fight against the Filth Monster and against each other. They are so important, criminals take advantage of these matters by selling special drugs to Kei users to improve their powers and worse cases they kidnap children of Kei users and sell them to other cities.
• Ship Tease — Layfon and Nina. Layfon and Mayshen. Layfon and Felli. Layfon and Leerin. All of these moments will make you feel Squee.
  • One of the manga adaptations, Missing Mail, teases Lafon and Felli so very very much.
• Show Within a Show — The Legend of Regios segments occasionally end with various members of the cast complaining about the abrupt cut-off and whating to know what happens next.
• Spoiler Opening — Points out the members of the eventual group of True Companions.
• Sugar and Ice Personality — Felli Loss, Even Lampshaded in the Maid Cafe episode
• Supernatural Aid — With a bit of a twist as Layfon has lost his Heaven's Blade, the anime then plays it straight when it is returned and combined with his katana.
• Takehito Koyasu — Karian Loss, Student Council President and Felli's older brother.
• Thanks for the Mammary — A funny version where the female doesn't punch the guy. Layfon and Naruki have a sparring match where he accidentally falls on top of her. Of course he touches her boobs. Naruki is not angry about it but she is annoyed that Layfon didn't realize he was feeling her big breasts as if they were flat in the first place!
• The Atoner — Layfon Alseif
• Tomboy and Girly Girl — Naruki and Mayshen
• Trapped by Mountain Lions — Leerin for a few episodes. Eventually her scenes begin to serve the purpose of filling in plot details for the viewer.
• Tsundere — Nina.
  • Also, Felli- that's right an Emotionally Repressed Ojou Tsundere
• Unwanted Harem — Layfon, you are one lucky man. You managed to catch the hearts of Felli, Nina, Mayshen and Leerin. Surprisingly, he does have feeling for all of them.
• What the Hell, Hero? — Nina to Layfon after she finds out why he left Grendan
• What Could Have Been — Leerin would have been Queen Alsheyra's daughter if her fiance (Leerin's Birth father) had not disappeared and married another woman.
• White-Haired Pretty Boy — Karian.
• White-Haired Pretty Girl — Felli.