If Her Flag Breaks

Plot

Souta Hatate, a new transfer student to the Hatagaya School, has the ability to see the futures of those around him in the form of flags. He is able to affect those flags based on his interactions with the person in question. He ends up living in a small dorm with many beautiful girls. When he finds a flag of death on himself, Souta learns that in order to be able to change his fate, he has to find and bring together four people: a princess knight, a magician, a cleric, and a shinobi.[ch. 5]

Characters

Souta Hatate (旗立 颯太, Hatate Sōta)

Voiced by: Ryōta Ōsaka

Souta is a transfer student to Hatagaya School who has the ability to see the fate of the people around him in the form of flags atop their heads. He can "break" the flags depending on his actions and thus change the fate of the people around him.[ch. 1] Several weeks prior to the start of the series, he was the sole survivor of the Premium Ambriel (プレミアム・アンブリアル, Puremiamu Anburiaru) a cruise ship that sank. There, he acquired the ability to see and alter flags from Sakura, who played a chess-like game with him during the cruise.[ch. 6] He ends up living in the Quest Dorm (クエスト寮, Kuesuto Ryō) with many beautiful girls.[vol. 2] In the anime, he seeks his sister who was also aboard the Premium Ambriel;[ep 2] the sister is later revealed to be Nanami. He is a Bladefield family member, Nanami's younger brother and Hakua's older brother, thus revealing his name to be Souta Bladefield.[ep 12]

Nanami Knight Bladefield (菜波・K・ブレードフィールド, Nanami Naito Burēdofīrudo)

Voiced by: Ibuki Kido

The thirteenth princess of Bladefield,[ch. 2] a small principality in Europe.[ep 1] When she introduces herself to Souta, she does not raise a flag like the other characters. She shows an interest in his ability,[ch. 1] and serves as the "princess knight" in his party.[ch. 10] In the anime, she is revealed to be Souta's older sister,[ep 12] and the daughter of Elia Bladefield.[ep 10]

Akane Mahougasawa (魔法ヶ沢 茜, Mahōgasawa Akane)

Voiced by: Ai Kayano

Akane is the granddaughter to the founder of the renowned Mahougasawa Foundation.[ch. 2] She sports a friendship flag that reappears no matter how many times Souta tries to break it,[ch. 2] and becomes the "magician" in Souta's party.[ch. 10] When she was younger, she was separated from her very first friend by her caretakers, who said that the difference in their classes was pitiable. As a result, she tries to "save" Souta and atone for her broken friendship. She is the first among the Quest Dorm housemates to raise a death flag, which Souta converts into a "route conquered" love flag by kissing her. Afterwards, she falls in love with Souta.[ch. 5] In the anime, Akane's death flag incident occurs before any of the girls have moved in with Souta.[ep 1]

Media

Light novels

If Her Flag Breaks began as a light novel series written by Tōka Takei, with illustrations by Cuteg. The first volume was published on December 2, 2011, under Kodansha's Kodansha Ranobe Bunko. Kodansha has published 16 volumes.

Manga

A manga adaptation illustrated by Nagian began serialization in the December 2011 issue of Kodansha's Monthly Shōnen Rival magazine, published on November 4, 2011. It was serialized in the magazine until the April 2014 issue, published on February 26, 2014, and the manga was transferred to Monthly Shōnen Sirius, being published from the May 2014 issue, on March 25, 2014. The manga finished in the April 2015 issue of Monthly Shōnen Sirius, released on February 26, 2015. Kodansha compiled the series into ten tankōbon volumes, published from March 2, 2012, to April 2, 2015. A second series, titled Atarashii Kanojo ga Flag o Oraretara (新しい彼女がフラグをおられたら), was serialized in Monthly Shōnen Sirius from April 25, 2015, to February 26, 2016. It was later transferred to Suiyōbi no Sirius website, where it ran from March 23 to June 22, 2016. Kodansha compiled its chapters into four tankōbon volumes, released from July 31, 2015, to September 2, 2016.

A spin-off series is titled Kanojo ga Flag o Oraretara: Ō Yūsha yo, Flag o Tateteshimau to wa Nanigoto da!? (彼女がフラグをおられたら おお勇者よ、フラグを立ててしまうとは何事だ!?), or Gawoyū (がをゆう) for short, was published in Monthly Shōnen Rival from the June 2013 issue, published on May 2, 2013, to the March 2014 issue, published on February 4, 2014. It was also published on Magazine Lab website. The series shows Souta and the girls as characters in a fantasy role-playing game world. Kodansha released a tankōbon volume on May 30, 2014.

A second spin-off series, titled Kanojo ga Flag o Oraretara: Root Love (彼女がフラグをおられたら ～ルートラブ～), or Gaworabu (がをラブ), by Kazuki Ayasaki, was serialized on Suiyōbi no Sirius and Niconico's Niconico Seiga web services from July 26, 2013, to June 11, 2014. Its chapters were compiled into two tankōbon volumes, published on April 2 and July 2, 2014.

Anime

An anime adaptation, produced by Hoods Entertainment and directed by Ayumu Watanabe, aired from April 6 to June 29, 2014, on Tokyo MX and later on Sun TV, TV Aichi, BS11 and AT-X. NIS America simulcasted the series on Crunchyroll with English subtitles. The opening theme song is "Cupid Review (クピドゥレビュー) by Aoi Yūki, while the ending theme song is "Kanojo ga Flag o Tateru Wake" (彼女がフラグを立てる理由) by Yell, a group composed of Ibuki Kido, Ai Kayano, Kana Asumi, Kana Hanazawa, Yōko Hikasa and Ayaka Suwa.

Reception

Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network wrote that the anime was a "fairly classic harem show," but that each episode throws something unexpected at the viewers to keep their attention. She criticized the overuse of pastel coloring, the female characters having either generic designs or annoying personality traits and felt the ending was rushed.