Mon Colle Knights

Mon Colle Knights is a mediocre, but funny, low-budget anime that knew it was exactly just that. It can be considered a parody of various things, itself included. The show is gag-driven for the most part and deals with two "teams" traveling to an Alternate Universe to gather six magical items that will enable them to connect their world with the Six Gates world. The lead characters, a Mad Scientist (Ichirobei Hiiragi) who recruited his daughter (Rokuna Hiiragi) and her boyfriend (Mondo Ooya) as "Mon Colle Knights" compete with Count (Ludwig Presto Von Meinstein) Collection and his lackeys, who try to gather the items to rule the world.

By the way, there are a few episodes less upbeat and silly, which begin to pop up a little more towards the end...

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Tropes used in Mon Colle Knights include:

• Aerith and Bob: Ordinary names like Luke, Lélé and Namiko coexist with names like Rokuna and Mondo.
• Affectionate Parody
• Against the Setting Sun: In the Show Within a Show, Sergeant Buncho and his newly acquired friend vow while the sun sets.
• Alternative Foreign Theme Song: In the English dub
• Ambiguously Gay: Prince Eccentro in the dub. However his Japanese counterpart, Count Collection is openly identified as gay.
• Anime Hair: Half the cast in one way or another.
• Anti-Hero: Zaha, post Heel Face Turn. Before that, he was an Anti-Villain.
• Ascended Extra: Bacchi and Guuko seem to have become the official mascots of "Shopping Mall Japan."
• Assimilation Plot: Reda's goal, with himself as the center of everything.
• Attack of the 50 Foot Whatever: A hamster, in this case.
• A Twinkle in the Sky
• Badass Normal: Mondo and Rokuna's teacher Namiko Gokumare, as demonstrated in the Grand Finale.
• Balance Between Good and Evil: The original version pretends this is going on at first, but eventually subverts it thoroughly. The dubbed version plays it straight all the way through.
• Battle Couple: Mondo and Rokuna, as they appear to already be a couple before coming to Mon World.
• Big Bad: Reda
• Big Bad Ensemble: Reda and Count Collection.
• Big Eater: Beginner
• Bishonen
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: In the original version, each episode starts with a bit of exposition where the Narrator explains the audience about the world. He is frequently interrupted by the characters who want to take over his job, sometimes they succeed.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Zaha and Shiru once Zaha redeems himself and they get back together.
• Black Blood: And white and fleshy colored as well.
• Blond Guys Are Evil
• Butt Monkey:
  • Namiko Gokumare, as she often has some kind of misfortune befall her whenever she appears.
  • As well as Prince Eccentric and Bacchi, due to Tanaka always being tough on them specifically.
• Calling Your Attacks: variation, they are spells.
• Card-Carrying Villain: All the villains, though Reda is the only one that fully embodies it.
• Card Games: Is there a reason for the Magic: The Gathering-looking Mon-Cards? No? Didn't think so.
• Cat Smile: Rokuna from time to time.
• Cessation of Existence: Dub only, what Redda wants to do to existence.
• The Chessmaster: Reda.
• Chest Burster: The birth of the Tyrant Terror Dragon goes this way.
• Cloudcuckoolander:
  • Guuko has no concept of bad things, likely since nothing bad ever happens to her.
  • Namiko Gokumare.
• Color-Coded Elements: Red for fire, dark blue for wind, cyan for water, green for earth, yellow for holy and purple for demon.
• Combat Commentator: In the few cases of an arena battle, the narrator will manifest within the show)
• Combined Energy Attack: The main four elements (save opposing ones) can be combined together, and holy and demon can mix with all.
• Cool House: The Hiiragi's place has that gigantic underground lab that shifts the surrounding urban area every time for takeoff. Then there's Count Collection's Supervillain Lair, which is a Big Fancy Castle complete with hangar and pool.
• Cosmic Horror: Oroboros, after Reda gained control of it.
• Council of Angels
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Namiko Gokumare.
• Cue the Sun: In the cases of the storm gods, Zaha and Oroboros, the sky darkens and then lights up exactly at their defeat.
• Cute Clumsy Girl: Beginner
• Dance Battler: The Black Tango Cat.
• Dangerously-Short Skirt: Rokuna, Bacchi and Guuko. Briefly in the first episode, an embarrassed Rokuna is seen pulling her skirt down when she realize her uniform has such a short skirt.
• Dangerously Genre Savvy: Reda.
• Dark Is Not Evil: While dark magic may be handy for mind control, using the power is as easy or difficult as with any other element. Demonic monsters like Orthros, Tiamat and eventually Zaha also have no trouble being dark and good.
  • Dark Is Evil: Reda is the only truly evil dark character.
• Defanged Horrors: Plays with this in an episode where Count Collection gets possessed by a vampire with a matching castle; Mondo reacts with utter fear but Rokuna (the same age) isn't fazed at all.
• Dojikko: Beginner.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Prince Eccentric's mentor Tanaka.
• Dub-Induced Plot Hole: most obvious with the conflicting motivations that various characters cite.
• Dub Name Change: Some characters got a variation (Guuko became Gluko) while others got an entirely new name (Salamander became Scorch The Fire Monster).
• Elemental Embodiment: The Water Elemental
• Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Wind, Water, Earth, Fire, Saint and Demon magic.
• Element Number Five: The Time element.
• Even Evil Has Standards: The dark monsters of the Six Gates world willingly helped the knights and the light monsters in defeating Reda.
• Everything's Better with Penguins
• Everything's Better with Chickens
• Everything's Better with Monkeys
• Everything's Better with Princesses
• Everything's Even Worse with Sharks
• Evil Plan: Reda shows a rather nice one. He kidnaps Rokuna, forces Mondo to give him the Monmon items and deceives him with a rat disguised as a fake Rokuna, has the real Rokuna trapped inside Terror Dragon's neck, provides Mondo with the Sadistic Choice of destroying Terror Dragon and Rokuna with it or getting destroyed by it himself trying to save her, exiles all his allies to a void, then leaves just before Zaha arrives. Zaha and the knights confront the Terror Dragon, of which either outcome is something that helps Reda: Zaha dead, or the Terror Dragon dead and the enemy stalled long enough to start the ritual - all part of his brilliant plan to summon Oroboros to destroy everything so he can create in their place a world filled with formless souls, free of war and suffering.
• Excited Episode Title
• Expy: Count Dragula, huh? Subtle. While the vampire's name is not mentioned in the original, it has it's own : Sylanprivania is the area's name. Either could double as Homage.
• Fallen Angel: Both Zaha and Reda.
• Fallen Hero: Zaha again, before his fall was an active guardian angel.
• Female Angel, Male Demon: A sibling variation, with Spectra and Zaha, respectively. Though the male is a fallen angel rather than a demon.
• Form-Fitting Wardrobe: The majority of female characters.
• Fusion Dance: In almost every episode, Mondo and Rokuna do this to merge with a monster.
• Gag Dub: A la Samurai Pizza Cats
• Genre Savvy: Several characters; including Mondo, Rokuna, Count Collection and Reda.
• Getting Crap Past the Radar: The dub.
• Ghibli Hills: The Earth and Wind Realms almost entirely.
• Ghost Lights: Rokuna's introduction in the Japanese version.
• Golem: The Magma Guard was called the Bronze Golem in the original version. It is an artificial lifeform whose duty it is go guard the sealed Gremlins. To this end, he is violent, but he has a good friend in the Water Elemental. She, however, sided with the Mon Colle Knights. The golem was destroyed, but the elemental assured the knights that he would be restored by the local magic.
• Green Aesop: More than once, the heroes are out to save the forest from wanton destruction.
• Green Thumb: Utahime / Kahimi.
• Harmless Villain: Prince Eccentro / Count Collection and his two lackeys, one being a flat-chested FieryRedhead and the other being a busty Cheerful Girl full of Dissonant Serenity.
• Healing Hands: The Wave Angel has this, and possibly Shiru as well.
• Heel Face Turn: Zaha.
• Hell Hound: Orthros.
• Hellish Pupils: played straight and subverted; good monsters can also have evil eyes.
• Here We Go Again: In the end Reda and Oroboros are defeated, but all the collected Monmon Items are destroyed. New ones are then scattered once again, leaving the heroes and villains exactly where they started.
• Hidden Elf Village
• Holy Hand Grenade: Some holy monsters have some attack that is both shiny and destructive.
• Hope Spot: Reda practically makes it a sport.
• Hostage for Macguffin: Reda abducts Rokuna.
• Hotblooded Sideburns: Professor Hiiragi.
• Hot Springs Episode
• Idiot Hair: Beginner is clumsiness incarnate, Rokuna on the other hand is intelligent and agile.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: The Saint Star Dragon (a.k.a. the Golden Dragon), who appears in the finale. It is prophesied to appear whenever needed, and draws his power from all of the six elements in order to undo any evil, no matter how great it is.
• In Harmony with Nature: Lots of of the monsters.
• In the Name of the Moon
• Inverse Law of Sharpness and Accuracy: Played straight for most of the series, but ignored in the finale.
• Knight of Cerebus: Zaha and Reda, especially Reda.
• Laughably Evil: Count Collection and his minions.
• Lethal Chef: Rokuna's food is treated this way, though the effects aren't always as bad as other seem to think. Though, that one dish was moving ...
• Lighter and Softer: The anime to ... everything else in the Six Gates franchise.
• Looming Silhouette of Rage: When Rokuna catches Mondo thinking of Beginner.
• Love Bubbles: Mondo and Rokuna do this together a lot, often to the chagrin of the surrounding characters.
• Lull Destruction
• Magical Land: Mon World
• Magic Feather: Luke's bravery axe.
• Magic Music: Both the merboy choir and Hanazono No Utahime have this, which allows them to control water and plants.
• Magic Skirt: Rokuna, Bacchi and Guuko wears short skirts, yet no Panty Shots.
• Manipulative Bastard: Reda uses everybody.
• Medium Awareness
• Meganekko: Guuko
• Merchandise-Driven: The card game featured in the anime was aimed at an older audience, so a separate, more kid friendly card game was based on the anime.
• Minion with an F In Evil: Guuko does not even understand she is a villain, being friendly with the heroes and even willing to offer help.
• Mons
• Monochromatic Eyes; Half of the angels.
• Mordor; Karon, a white desert.
• Mood Whiplash: Whenever any fallen angels show up, this happens instantly.
• Narrator
• Nature Spirit
• No Cartoon Fish: Arguably irrelevant, since most monsters are drawn realistically.
• Not So Different: Dr Hiiragi and Count Collection, as shown in the first episode.
• Official Couple: Rokuna and Mondo in both versions. Zaha and Shiru only in the original, Luke and Beginner only in the dub.
• Off-Model
• Omnicidal Maniac: Reda
• Our Elves Are Better: Mocked, our elves are deadly afraid of mud and sweat.
• Our Gods Are Greater: In the original version, the Sea Giant is the god of the ocean and Coatl is the god of snakes.
• Ouroboros
• Padding
• Parental Abandonment: In the original version, Rokuna's mother left cause she was bored, leaving Rokuna to tend to the household and an work obsessed dad, much of her early years were lonely. In the dub, she's still around offscreen.
• Perky Female Minion: Bacchi and Guuko
• Perpetual Frowner: Zaha
• Perpetual Molt: Zaha, Reda and Shiru probably have very fast growing feathers.
• Pettanko: Bacchi
• Pillar of Light: This occurs when Luke and Beginner use the Night Before Armageddon spell.
• Prophetic Names: Rokuna and Mondo : Roku + Mon = Rokumon, the Sixgate.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: The Ogres. Their strength contests are awarded by a blessing and the right to fight a monster.
• Puni Plush: Mainly with the child characters. Slightly less so with certain others such as Namiko, Bacchi, and Guuko. Not present at all with most other characters.
• Rapunzel Hair
• Real Men Wear Pink: Chuzaemon and his cat grooming and pink tutu.
• Religious and Mythological Theme Naming
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: Jaane and Punch Punch
• Running Gag: Both the versions have a few of their own.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: The gremlins, Pazuzu and Bahamut (two creatures one one seal) and Coatl.
• Sea Monster: The Leviathan, the Ogopogo, the Giant Squid and the Water Dragon.
• Secret-Chaser: In one episode, Namiko Gokumare finds out about the existence of Mon World and wants to be part of the action. She gets her chance in the Grand Finale, where he takes down an army of (evil) monsters!
• Shoo Out the Clowns: Oddly averted. The Terrible Trio remains almost entirely out of sight of the heroes during all the drama of the finale, being deliberately shooed in the wrong direction. They end up carrying a vital plot coupon to the Big Bad and thereby more or less accidentally start the apocalypse.
• Shout-Out: During a discussion over a good line to say while leaping out of a burning car, Mondo suggests "Rats! I left my Digimon: The Movie CD in there!". The English cast worked on Digimon.
• Sissy Villain: Count Collection
• Something About a Rose: Count Collection has a massive rose fetish. Never poses without one, and he poses a lot. He's so involved with roses that he even fails in roses, as the mushroom cloud after his ship crashes always assumes the shape of a wilting rose.
• Split-Screen Reaction: Happens rarely.
• Spiritual Successor: to Time Bokan ("Yatterman", to be specific), according to a staff interview.
  • Others would call it a successor to Flint the Time Detective.
• Stock Footage: Lots of it.
• Terrible Trio: Count Collection, Bacchi and Guuko, who else?
• Team Spirit: Subverted in the final episodes; Team Spirit got everyone sucked into a void and the loner saved the day.
• The Beast Master: Any summoner.
• The Good King: The Green Wind King
• The Imp: Rut/Lucca
• Thigh-High Boots: Rokuna and Guuko wear a pair, while Bacchi wears one thigh-high boot and one ankle-length boot.
• To the Bat Noun
• Tree-Top Town: The elf town.
• Tsundere: Batch, and Rokuna mixes it with Yandere.
• Up the Real Rabbit Hole: Guilty as charged for both teams; monsters usually call the other world "human world".
• Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Most of the episodes are cheerful, but when Reda shows up, cartoon physics switch off and the violence gets real.
• Villains Out Shopping: Count Collection and company.
• Winged Humanoid: The angels, the Garuda and the Birdmen.
• Word Salad Title: The full title is Six Gates Far Away Mon Colle Knight.
• World of Ham: In the dub, at least, and most of it is provided by Dr. Hiragi and Prince Eccentro. The original version is pretty heavy on it too, at one point Mondo and Hiiragi deliberately get loud and hammy to escape eating Rokuna's food.
• World-Wrecking Wave: The Tyrant Terror Dragon's power causes reality to literally burst apart as it rewinds or pushes forward time in whatever it hits.
• Worthless Yellow Rocks: In episode 11, Count Collection dives in a pile of riches and is disappointed he doesn't find anything he wants (namely, a Mon Mon Item).
• Yin-Yang Bomb: Reda is the first to do this by combing his power with Coatl, Zaha and Shiru do it the next episode, and in the finale the Mon Colle Knights through the Saint Star Dragon also pull it off.
• Zettai Ryouiki: Rokuna and Guuko.