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A badass blind swordsman named Mamoru Hijikata is out doing some field testing on his new sonar shades, when he encounters a young girl named Haruka Touyama, who asks him to protect her. Noticing all the men after her, he agrees and asks her how long this'll take. She responds with:
This isn't by chance, as Haruka is revealed to have the ability to see the future; and due to this her parents were killed and she's been hunted down by many people, including the Yakuza. To escape from her fate, she has to stay by Mamoru's side until she's free.
The series is all about Haruka's fight for a Happy Ending, with Mamoru (whom she develops a Precocious Crush on) by her side... Logically, this won't be easy: Haruka is such a skilled seer that many, MANY groups are after her, and they will never give up on their purpose of capturing the girl for their own purposes.
Until Death Do Us Part (Japanese: 死がふたりを分かつまで Hepburn: Shi ga Futari wo Wakatsu made) is a Japanese manga series written by Hiroshi Takashige and illustrated by DOUBLE-S. It was serialized by Young Gangan from 205 to 2015.
Not to be confused with the '60s British sitcom 'Til Death Us Do Part, which spawned the US adaptation All in The Family.
- Action Girl: Sierra and Juliet. Ashford as well.
- Affably Evil: Mister Wiseman is very courteous towards guys who would be his enemies. He's also a college professor and criminologist when he's not plotting against people.
- An Arm and a Leg: Often inflicted by Mamoru.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse
- Anti-Hero: Mamoru. People wonder if he was hired to fight the criminals so that, even if he died, there would be one less evildoer in the world.
- Armor Is Useless: Mamoru stabbed a guy through a tank. You cannot get better armor than that.
- Though his katana CAN cut through anything, So... justified?
- Artificial Limbs: Tate's metal arm is his primary weapon/defence.
- Attack Drone: Fang uses special remote drones with sound dampeners so Mamoru's eyes can't detect them.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: Kaiser and Jesus.
- Badass: Most of the cast.
- Badass and Child Duo: Mamoru and Haruka
- Badass Biker: Dai Ibuki. However, he's only badass when he's on his bike, so....
- Badass Boast: Mamoru seems to like this trope.
"This blade is specially made. Anything that stands in its way will be cut in half. Anything." (Also note that this could be Mamoru talking about himself rather than the blade that he carries.) |
- In one notable instance, he pulls off what can only be described as a Handicapped Badass Boast:
"If you turn your inept killing intent towards me now, no matter who you are, I'll cut you to pieces. Whether you've got a weapon or not... even if I'd be fighting an old man or a woman or a child... I can't go easy on them, either. Seeing as I can't check with my eyes, that is." |
- Bad Guy Bar: The "Nest of Geese" that Jesus and Wiseman hang out is one of these.
- Bank Robbery: They come across one being done by the infamous "Five Minute Gang", named so because it only takes them that long to rob a bank.
- Berserk Button: You do not want to look Mamoru in the eye when he's dealing with the man who got Haruka's parents killed, and ruined her chances of a happy life — or anyone else who caused her (or other innocents) harm, for that matter.
- Jesus carries over his Berserk Button from the series he's originally from. Threaten his students and you'll pay for it.
- The Blacksmith: We have not met him yet, but someone is making Mamoru's molecule thin sword. We do see a note from him though.
- Blessed with Suck: Haruka; sure she can read the future, but it caused her parents' death and she cannot even go to school without people watching her all the time to ensure that she does not get kidnapped.
- Blind Weaponmaster: Mamoru
- Blood Knight: Mamoru. Upon meeting Aegis, who was apparently sent to help Haruka, Mamoru said that he wanted to fight him no matter what since he hasn't met anyone who could fight him head on.
- Bodyguard Crush: Haruka, on Mamoru. According to her she and Mamoru will be married one day, and she's doing everything she can to make it happen. Mamoru knows nothing about this and Igawa and Sierra were asked to keep quiet about it. At the very end, the adult Haruka and Mamoru get Happily Married
- Broken Bird: Juliet lost her uterus when she was raped some time back, so she can't have babies. This explains why she's usually such a Jerkass to Sierra, who laments quite a bit about her dead daughter.
- Bullet Catch: Done by guy known as "The Shield of Aegis", although we find out that he has a mechanical arm that helps him do that.
- Career Killers: Jesus, the world's top hitman, and Fang.
- Car Fu: With a motorcycle; for added fun, it's his only weapon.
- Igawa is not bad with his vehicles either, but not to Dai's insanity.
- Carnival of Killers: One of these shows up after a one hundred million dollar bounty is placed on Mamoru's head.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Remember her? One panel of kind-of-flashback in the first chapter? Turns out she's Luna, unmasked, and probably also the last thing Mamoru ever saw with his own eyes, right before she very messily died. Nobody saw that coming.
- The Chessmaster: Mister Wiseman, Tatsumi Daiba, Zelm.
- Child Soldiers: The children that the TPC kidnapped who remained unsold were raised to be soldiers for the Canes Venatici.
- Clean Cut: So clean that the intermolecular forces can hold the object together afterwards.
- Close-Call Haircut: Tate, here.
- Code Name: Aside from The Wall, there's also "Blade" (Mamoru), "Needle", and probably others we haven't seen yet.
- Cool Bike: Dai's custom motorcycle, Bucephalus .
- Cool Old Guy: Wiseman and Zelm.
- Cool Shades: To hide Mamoru's eyes. They also allow him to see.
- Cool Sword
- Crossover: Tate and Jesus both have their own series. Liu Yijian and Dragon Gate organization also appeared in Tate's series.
- Dead Little Daughter: Sierra and Kilo's daughter was killed before they joined The Wall. Also Igawa's sister and Aegis' family.
- Death Seeker: The Canes Venatici. Mamoru noticed that they are quick to kill their own and felt that their super soldiers fought like they wanted to lose. This owes to the fact that they're the unsold products from TPC's operations that were kept and raised to be soldiers, and were addicted to a certain drug to ensure loyalty.
- Disability Superpower
- Diplomatic Impunity: Edge Turus. Does not help him much...
- Drives Like Crazy: Igawa, although it's more of he needs to drive like crazy rather than he just does.
- Earn Your Happy Ending :Haruka's biggest desire is to
- Elites Are More Glamorous: The Wall for starters. And the Black Unit.
- Enemy of My Enemy: The reason why the various mercs going undercover in the school aren't killing each other yet. See Enemy Civil War for more details.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Excluding Alpha Jack Garvey and Sierra Serena, the names of the Wall members are unknown, and they're only ever referred to as their code names.
- Also, Jesus's real name is unknown by anyone.
- Enemy Civil War: In terms of spying on Haruka and all when she gets in school with Mamoru and meets Jesus. They're the Public Security Intelligence Agency, 24 (A reference to the actual 24?) and the Galboan Black Unit.
- Everything's Worse with Bears: And thus, Mamoru decided to make Haruka fight one as part of her training.
- Evil Cripple: Edge. When first introduced he was just evil; Mamoru added the "cripple" part.
- Evil Is Sexy: Luna, second-in-command of the bad guys in the Chechnya flashback.
- Eye Scream: Ever wonder what happened to Mamoru's eyes? He was right next to somebody when they were hit with an exploding round.
- Mr. Fanservice: Quite a few female readers started the series, simply because Mamoru is hot.
- As far as that goes, most of the male cast has a small amount of fangirls. Even Senji.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Igawa and Fang. Also possibly, Tatsumi Daiba, the manager of the Element Network, who created a search engine when he was a teenager and has developed a quantum computer and a sentient AI.
- Gambit Pileup: Wiseman has his own plans and is putting Mamoru's in to motion, maybe. Haruka has a plan that she is getting The Element Network to put into motion for her. Last but not least, Daiba has his own plans in the work. Just about all of them are revolving around Haruka.
- Genius Cripple: Daiba
- The Gift: Mamoru is described as having it by his old master and many others.
- Goggles Do Something Unusual
- Good Is Not Nice: Mamoru may fight crime, but he's openly admitted to only doing as such so he can continue to fight and hone his skills. He does get some character development later, however.
- Also, Jesus, maybe even more so than Mamoru. Sure, he went to Chechnya to search for his missing student, he saved some of the kids from the Canes Venaciti, and he got rid of Orion. This doesn't stop him from warning Haruka that if she or Mamoru get in his way, one or both of them will die by his hand.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Mamoru has an antihero scar covering half his face from what blinded him.
- Handicapped Badass: Mamoru, whenever he doesn't have his glasses or when they're not working; with his glasses, he doesn't really count as "handicapped".
- Heartwarming Moments: After Haruka learns some of Mamoru's back story in the Next Arc she runs home and hugs him.
- Heel Face Turn: Senji Tamagawa, although it's arguable if he was ever a Heel, even though he was part of the gang who works under Edge.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: The difference is already big as Mamoru's an adult and Haruka's just a pre-teen, but the former is around 6 ft. tall.
- Human Resources: How bio chips are made. Except not just any humans, fetuses.
- Also, the TPC, who kidnap children for forced organ transplants.
- Implausible Fencing Powers: Mamoru, although this is helped by his Absurdly Sharp Blade. Although he could cut bullets in mid-flight before that.
- Made a little bit more plausible by the fact that his glasses allow him to see where a gun barrel is pointing and just as likely is able to tell when someone is pulling a trigger, therefore all he has to do is make sure his blade is in the way, rather than reacting to the bullet itself.
- Immune to Fate: The biggest reason that Haruka needs Mamoru.
- In Harm's Way: Mamoru says his job fighting is the only reason why he is alive.
- Inverse Law of Sharpness and Accuracy: Mamoru only misses against a plot important character. Although it is implied that he is going easy on them.
- Katanas Are Just Better: Mamoru, even before he lost his eyesight. Despite being trained with firearms, his drive has always been for the blade.
- Knife Nut: Kilo
- On some occasions, Mamoru will throw a few knives around as well.
- Lethal Joke Item: A bouncy ball? Aw, you can't hurt me with that- *broken bones*
- Made of Iron: Mamoru gets shot a few times, cut up, fights all night, and he is perfectly fine the next day. His injuries never seem to stick longer than the current fight.
- Mama Bear: Sierra to Haruka.
- Master Swordsman: Mamoru and Genda.
- Meaningful Name: Mamoru means "to protect". Guess what his job (other than beating the hell out of bad guys) is.
- Mercy Kill: Mamoru to Luna.
- Mission Control: Igawa.
- Mood Whiplash: Chapter 72 somewhat resembled a sketch from Tom and Jerry, until it gets to the end...
- Mooks: Very few die, but many are taken down.
- Mook Horror Show: One page in chapter 93 gave off this feel.
- Morality Pet: Haruka to Mamoru in many respects. The first couple chapters Igawa kept reminding Mamoru not to kill guys because it would make Haruka sad.
- New Transfer Student: Haruka herself at times; also, Anna.
- Nice Hat: Pyro
- Nightmare Face: here. Only to be expected, as the person suddenly exploding.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Zelm looks remarkably similar to Morgan Freeman. The fact he seems to be stoic and authoritative further increases the resemblance.
- No Mister Bond I Expect You to Dine: Orion
- Non-Lethal KO: Sometimes taking a guy down in a nonlethal manner in this story involves cutting out his lower teeth....
- Not Wearing Tights: What we have here is, essentially, a blind Batman with a katana. This couldn't be not awesome if it tried.
- Old Master: Inaba.
- Omniscient Council of Vagueness: The Element Network. Their vagueness is also what prompts Mister Wiseman to deviate from his job of just killing Mamoru to finding out everything he can about them.
- Oracular Urchin
- Parental Abandonment: Haruka and Daiba; in fact it's why he made The Element.
- Plot-Relevant Age-Up: Anna seems to be at least a couple of years older from her Yami no Aegis appearance.
- Post Dramatic Stress Disorder: Mamoru at the end of the Chechnya arc.
- Private Military Contractors: The Wall.
- Precocious Crush: Haruka to Mamoru. He does not know yet, but she really wants to marry him.
- Prophecies Are Always Right: Averted, and played straight at times.
- Put on a Bus: Sierra and Kilo were injured and put in a hospital to recuperate. Sierra fully recovers and tries to find Haruka, and after the Time Skip she goes to train under a swordmaster who helped Mamoru.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Dai and Mamoru have this dynamic
- Redemption Equals Death: Luna
- Replacement Goldfish: Sierra treats Haruka like her own daughter, who she mentions would have been the same age had she not died.
- Revolvers Are Just Better: Jesus uses a .357 Colt Python.
- Running Gag: Mamoru can and will sleep anywhere at anytime, usually getting astonished looks because of it.
- Screw Destiny: The whole story is Haruka's struggle to do just that.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections: Subverted, the guy who tried to use this trope got his limbs cut off.
- Sharpened to a Single Atom: Mamoru's katana, of the single molecule wide variety.
- Shout-Out: Mamoru defeats the leader of Canes Venatici with a technique from Suio Ryu.
- Sink or Swim Mentor: Mamoru during the time skip when he is training Haruka, paraphrase: dodge the bear or get eaten by a bear. To be fair, Mamoru stood by completely supervising the training to ensure Haruka was not harmed at any time.
- Smoking Is Cool: Genda. Most notably when he fights Mamoru head-on in pitch darkness, all the while puffing away.
- Stepford Smiler: Haruka becomes one after she is forced to leave school again.
- Sunglasses At Night: Justified on multiple counts; see Cool Shades.
- Sweet Tooth: Mamoru and Ibuki.
- Sword Cane
- Tank Goodness: Brought out by Wiseman to fight Mamoru.
Senji: Holy shit. |
- Ten-Minute Retirement: Mamoru and Haruka left for about a month and came back. When asked what he's been doing since he left, Mamoru just says "I took a stroll."
- The Butcher: Fang, Edge Turus's brother and hitman. He got his name for his crime scenes looking like someone had been ripped apart by wild animals.
- Theme Naming: The Wall uses the Military Alphabet to name their operatives.
- Title Drop: In the first chapter, no less.
- Trickster Mentor: Mamoru is accused of this by Haruka with his interactions with Dai.
- Waif Fu: Justified, female The Wall operatives are trained paramilitary, and Haruka can take advantage of the fact that she can read the future. The latter Took a Level In Badass after being trained by Mamoru to fight BEARS.
- Waif Prophet
- What the Hell, Hero?: It's because of Mamoru's decidedly criminal-like behaviour with enemies that Sierra is so unwilling to leave Haruka with him, and others have a hard time trusting him.
- Whole-Episode Flashback: The Next arc.
- Yakuza: Mostly as Mooks, but a few (Komura, Senji) end up becoming more important characters.
- Your Head Asplode: A number of terrorists have explosives implanted in their molars. Guess what happens when they bite down on them. It can also be triggered remotely.