Innocence Seekers: The Black Rose – Trivia

For this blog post, I will detail the little things about Innocence Seekers: The Black Rose. These include things like inspriations, or perhaps mere coincidences. Like any piece of fiction, Innocence Seekers: The Black Rose has many tropes in common with other works, but also has aspects unique to itself.

It is important to note that Innocence Seekers: The Black Rose was inspired by magical girl anime, and as such, will play many magical girl tropes straight (such as transformation sequences).

Characters (general)

The majority of the cast is female.
Out of all entries in Innocence Seekers: The Black Rose, only two are planned to have even a male co-protagonist (Innocence Seekers: Dimensional Crossing and an as-yet unnamed entry).
Most of the main characters will be pre-teen girls, with older characters placed in support roles (some might argue the support roles are even more important than the roles the main characters participate in).

The fact that most of the cast is female is something Innocence Seekers: The Black Rose has in common with a number of magical girl anime/manga (and similar works). As an example, male characters gradually lost focus in the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha series, to the point where, in one manga, all but a handful of characters (and there are lots) who appear are female. There is only one important male character in Puella Magi Madoka Magica, who primarily acts as the object of affection for one of the main characters and is only mentioned for a few episodes. No named male characters appear in Yuki Yuna Is a Hero. Note that all of the anime mentioned in this paragraph have significant yuri (female on female) subtext.
The idea of male co-protagonists is to provide an alternate viewpoint into the world of magical girls. In a sense, they’re not the heroes of the stories they feature. Note that there will not be an entry where a male character is the sole protagonist.
The average age of an Innocence Seekers main character is lower than that usually found in magical girl stories. This may be because one of its initial inspirations was Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, which featured a nine-year-old protagonist in its first two seasons.

Characters (specific)

Note: More birthday connections will come in a later post.

Akari’s birthday is August 6. She shares her birthday with Japanese voice actress and singer Kaori Ishihara (the date was deliberately chosen, if you’re wondering).
Michiru shares the same birthday (September 27) with Yuzu Iizuka of Sakura Trick, as well as Japanese voice actress Rumi Ōkubo. Unlike above, this is merely a coincidence.
Yayoi’s birthday (August 15) is the same as that of Japanese voice actress and singer Yui Ogura. Like with Akari, it was deliberately chosen.
Hiyori’s birthday is September 8, which is the same as that of Japanese voice actresses Asami Sanada and Mai Kadowaki.
Mirai shares the same birthday (November 12) with Aya Hisakawa, who is a veteran voice actress.
Sakura’s birthday (May 29) is identical to that of Japanese voice actresses Mikako Takahashi and Saori Hayami.
Mizuki’s birthday (September 24) is the same as that of Amu Hinamori of Shugo Chara!. It is also three days before Michiru’s birthday.
Inori shares the same birthday (December 7) with Erika Kurumi/Cure Marine of Heartcatch Precure! and Itsuki Inubōzaki of Yuki Yuna Is a Hero.
Akane has the same birthday (January 29) as that of Japanese voice actress Ayane Sakura.
Misato’s birthday is October 22, the same as that of Minako Aino/Sailor Venus of Sailor Moon.
Mutsuki’s birthday (March 25) is the same as that of Li Meiling of Cardcaptor Sakura, as well as Japanese voice actress Machico.
Kisaragi shares the same birthday (December 6) with Japanese voice actress Sayaka Ōhara. It is also only a day before Inori’s birthday.
Uzuki’s birthday is May 13.
Satsuki’s birthday is January 30, which is identical to that of Japanese voice actress Asami Shimoda.
Himawari Higasa has the same birthday (June 12) as that of Rikka Takanashi of Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions and Karin Miyoshi of Yuki Yuna Is a Hero. It is also three days after her best friend Yuri’s birthday (June 9).
Yuri shares the same birthday with Nozomi Tōjō of Love Live!, as well as Japanese voice actress Kana Ueda.
Sumire’s birthday (July 11) is identical to that of Japanese voice actresses Yuka Iguchi and Nana Inoue.
Wakaba’s birthday is November 3, which is the same as that of Sae of Hidamari Sketch and Sapphire Kawashima of Sound! Euphonium.
Aoi’s birthday (September 17) is shared with Rikka Hishikawa/Cure Diamond of DokiDoki! Precure.
Inori was named after Japanese voice actress and singer Inori Minase. Curiously, their birthdays are only five days apart (Minase’s is December 2).
There are two Himawaris in Innocence Seekers: The Black Rose.
The Miyana sisters are all named after traditional Japanese months (namely, Mutsuki, Kisaragi, Yayoi, Uzuki and Satsuki).
The name “Himawari” can be written in kanji as 向日葵. The third kanji in this name, when used alone, can be read as “Aoi”. The Higasa sisters are both named Himawari and Aoi.

Setting

Mimori Elementary School and Mimori Middle School are both named after Japanese voice actress Suzuko Mimori.
“Mihara” and “Mimori” share the same first kanji.
It is not assumed that every character speaks the same language, nor it is assumed that the language the story is written in is the same language used by the characters. As an example, in Innocence Seekers: Akari of the Light, the only playable character who is fluent in English is Hiyori, despite that fact that many characters in the story converse in English (the main characters use either Japanese or Namari).
Flower motifs are common in Innocence Seekers. Innocents (magical girls) often have an associated flower, and flower motifs can also be found in other places.