Unbreakable Machine-Doll

Early 20th century, mankind was able to establish advanced magic into a system; Machinart. The combination of magic and science which involves running a magic circuit through an automaton and having a puppeteer control it. However, in this era, the technique is being exploited for military use as major world powers are at a frenzied state to outdo each other. As a World War looms, Akabane Raishin, a puppeteer from Japan, together with Yaya, his automaton, arrived in Machine City Liverpool in England and entered the Walpurgis Royal Academy of Machinart to join the Night Party, a series of battles wherein Machinart clash until there is only one left standing and become the Wiseman, mainly, to spy on the latest Machinart developed by major world powers for the Japanese Army, though in actuality, to exact revenge on his brother Akabane Tenzen whom he assumes to have killed their clan and he assumes to be Magnus.

Unbreakable Machine-Doll (機巧少女(マシンドール)は傷つかない, Kikō Shōjo wa Kizutsukanai (Mashin-Dōru wa Kizutsukanai), lit. "Unbreakable Machine Girl"} also abbreviated as "UMD"; is an ongoing Japanese light novel series written by Kaitou Reiji and illustrated by Ruroo. The series is published by Media Factory under their MF Bunko J imprint and is adapted into an ongoing manga series illustrated by Takagi Hakaru and published by Media Factory under their Monthly Comic Alive magazine and into a 12-episode anime television series animated by the anime studio Lerche and directed by Yoshimoto Kinji.

Needs More Love

---

This series contains examples of:

• Almighty Janitor: Raishin, due to receiving the second lowest ranking.
• Alternate History: Magic and Magitek have been around since at least the Renaissance but became especially prominent when advancing technology made it easier to produce automatons, allowing various nations to weaponize the discipline and set all scrambling in an arms race for capable puppeteers.
• Ambiguously Bi: Felix, who has repeatedly asked out Charlotte, and claims to Raishin that he's "a guy who won't bore" when Raishin sarcastically turns Felix down right after Charlotte does, even though Felix hadn't asked. Any part of which was just an act to set Charlotte and Raishin at ease with him since he intended on using Charlotte as his scapegoat and considered Raishin a potential threat to his plans.
• Artificial Human: Banned Dolls.
• The Assimilator/Cannibalism Superpower/Mega Manning: Cannibal Candy, Felix's Automaton Eliza, eats the magic circuits of other automatons in order to use their powers.
• The Atoner: Charlotte believes she was responsible for her family's downfall after a doll of hers injured prince Edmund that led the British government to take away her family's titles and fortune, forcing her family to separate. Since then, she's been trying to regain her family's honor by trying to win the Night Party.
• Badass Normal: Raishin. Standard fighting procedure involves puppeteers standing back while their automatons fight so they can concentrate on transmitting magic energy into the automatons; however, Raishin can fight alongside his automaton, Yaya.
• Bash Brothers/Battle Couple: Raishin and Yaya. Though Raishin would deny them being a couple.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Lisette the fake one and Felix.
• Book Dumb: Raishin ends up as the second lowest rank in the school due to his test scores, yet is an extremely effective combatant. His deductive skills are quite impressive as well. He may just be bad with written English and Arabic numerals, from a side comment, he makes right after the tests.
• Calling Your Attacks: Crops up sometimes as puppeteers command their automatons, particularly with Raishin who fights directly with Yaya on the field - so he's calling his own attack strategies as well as commanding hers.
• Chaste Hero: Raishin, despite Yaya's drive to change that. He appears to be more focused on revenge.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Yaya, to the point she sees any girl Raishin is near as a potential threat.
  • Charlotte seems to becoming one, not that she would admit it.
• Code Name/Red Baron: Some characters have an Entry/Registration Code they are known by.
  • Raishin Akabane: Second Last
  • Charlotte Belew: Tyrant Rex (and T-Rex as well)
  • Felix Kingsfort: Valkyria
  • Lisette Norden: White Mist
• Deadly Decadent School: The Walpurgis Royal Academy of Machinart is certainly one amongst the higher-ranked students, who engage in Machiavellian plots and schemes to advance their position in the Night Party without having to risk themselves too greatly in the actual fights for the position of Wiseman.
• Dragon Rider: Charlotte can ride on Sigmund when he's at full size.
• Eating Lunch Alone: Nobody has lunch with Charlotte except Felix because she refuses to be friends with anyone. Then came Raishin and Yaya.
• Enemy Mine: A group against Charlotte tried to use this on Raishin, but he merely wanted to challenge her to a fair fight.
  • In an omake, Yaya appears to be trying to get help from Charlotte about another girl who has appeared. Charlotte, seeing that the girl has much bigger breasts then them, agrees she is an enemy they must fight against.
• Epic Flail: One automaton's ability.
• Human Resources: Banned Dolls, which are made with body parts taken from living people to provide a stronger focus for magic. It's illegal to make Banned Dolls now but not illegal to own one - Sigmund is a Banned Doll made from a dragon, which Charlotte inherited. Also, other automatons can be made from corpses and ashes.
• Heroic BSOD: Charlotte gets a horrible one when she is accused of being Cannibal Candy by the "nice boy" she has a crush on who is Cannibal Candy. Said crush also reveals he never liked her and gave a "The Reason You Suck" Speech that, due to her bitchy attitude, everyone will believe she is the Cannibal Candy culprit and no one will believe her if she tells the truth.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: After getting a "The Reason You Suck" Speech by Felix, Charlotte realizes she wanted friends all along and her bitchy attitude didn't help.
• Ice Queen: Charlotte. Showing signs of defrosting.
• Idiot Hero: Raishin is ranked 1235th out of 1236 in his transfer admission test.
  • To be fair, he is mostly Book Dumb in subjects that are not Military History rather than being genuinely stupid. Though he is reckless.
• I'm a Humanitarian: In a way; the automaton Cannibal Candy eats other automatons.
• It Only Works Once: Cannibal Candy's weakness. It has to consume multiple magic circuits because after it uses the ability once, it is unable to do so again, due to the natural limitations of magic and the normal impossibility of using multiple forms of magic in a single automaton.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Yaya... for all of five seconds. Immediately after swearing to Sigmund that she would be fine staying as an automaton to fight beside Raishin even if it was possible to become a human and be his lover instead, she considers the possibility of Raishin hooking up with someone else and starts crushing parts of the bench she's sitting on.
• I Work Alone: The prideful Charlotte would rather do things herself than ask for help. This would come back to bite her when she is accused of being Cannibal Candy.
• Just Shoot Him: Felix's last ditch attack if all else fails.
• Kill and Replace: Felix killed the real Lisette and had his automaton Eliza take her place.
• Loners Are Freaks: Because of her high rank and anti-social attitude, most of the students fear and dislike Charlotte. This will come to haunt her later when the Disciplinary Committee believed she was Cannibal Candy.
• Luminescent Blush: Charlotte does this a lot around Felix and Raishin.
• Magitek: Makinot/Machinart, the discipline behind the creation of automatons.
• Marionette Master: The normal way most puppeteers fight with their automatons.
• Meaningful Name: Raishin could mean Movement. His full name could mean "Lightning Truth Crimson Wings"
• Meet Cute: Frey and Raishin, of the "embarrassing situation" variety. Raishin returns to his room to find Frey dangling from the ceiling in the ropes of a snare she'd set for him, and then set off herself, leaving her in a compromising position. She admits right away she'd come to assassinate him.
• Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate: The school doctor, Dr. Cruel, is introduced apparently after harassing a student, and gladly accepts a bribe to keep an eye on Raishin.
  • Though in his defence, the other option aside from the bribe was a Pretty Little Headshots.
• Nice Hat: Charlotte wears a beret.
• Not a Date: Raishin takes Charlotte out on one as an excuse to prove whether if she really is Cannibal Candy or not.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Raishin sometimes really seems to enjoy how much others underestimate him due to his low grades.
• Pride: Charlotte's greatest character fault.
• Random Power Ranking: Students are given ranks depending on their academics.
  • Raishin Akabane: 1235th
  • Charlotte Belew: 6th
  • Felix Kingsfort: 4th
  • Lisette Norden: 34th
• Red Herring: Charlotte is suspected of being Cannibal Candy by Raishin. But it is subverted when it is revealed that Raishin knows Charlotte isn't Cannibal Candy but used that information to get close with the real culprit.
• Revenge: Raishin is seeking revenge against the man who murdered his family.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Frey and her brother, Loki, seem to be like Hinata and Neji: Frey's the weak, gentle older sister who's trying her best but really doesn't appear to be suited for fighting while her brother is a violent hardass obsessed with his "place".
• Sleep Mode Size: Sigmund is most of the time a Shoulder-Sized Dragon small enough to rest on Charlotte's head unless called into battle.
• Smoke Out: Raishin does this to Charlotte after he decides to not finish their interrupted fight.
• Snarky Non-Human Sidekick: Sigmund towards Charlotte.
• Talking Animal: The original dog-like automaton at Frey's family's "farm".
• That Man Is Dead: Professor Kimberley refuses to answer to her real name, stating that "The girl with that name has already died during that war."
• Trigger Happy: Charlotte, who will use Sigmund Wave Motion Gun on anything that startles or annoys her, such as destroying the garden because she was frightened by a hornet, blew up the science lab because she didn't want to dissect frogs, and even ordered him to attack Raishin when he embarrassed her, though the last one he didn't do because he wanted to finish eating.
• Tsundere: Charlotte goes Tsun to Raishin while she goes Dere to Felix.
• Wave Motion Gun: Sigmund's most powerful attack, Luster Cannon. Even Yaya, who can become all but immune to physical damage while magically charged by Raishin, would be annihilated if she took it in the face.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Raishin really hates when people refer to others, especially automatons, in terms of costs, efficiency, and numbers. Especially since most automatons, to be more effective combatants, are made with human-level intelligence - and more than a few have or develop human emotions.
• Yandere: Played for laughs with Yaya.
• Yaoi Fangirl: In an omake comic, Yaya tearfully reports that Charlotte is making "Cruel x Raishin do that."
• Zettai Ryouiki: Yaya