When she was very young, Shiratori Kuu met a tall, handsome prince. Her only memory of him is the words "Let's go. Together." Years later, a mysterious transfer student — and the spitting image of her prince — shows up at her very own school.
The reserved, mysterious Kyoshiro, however, turns out to be more than Kuu bargained for. He seems very prince-like at first, but ends up coming on a little strong — rip-off your shirt and stare at your chest kind of strong. To top off that initial strangeness, he is tied up in a massive battle between a race of female super-beings called Absolute Angels, who feed off of the life force of humans through kissing. Kyoshiro's partner and bodyguard, Setsuna, is also an Absolute Angel. Kuu isn't sure whether Kyoshiro is really her prince or not, but after the ensuing destruction of her school by the Absolute Angels, she has no choice but to follow him and Setsuna into the unknown.
The series is a Massive Multiplayer Crossover of previous works by Kaishaku (original manga artist) and TNK (animation producer): Destiny of the Shrine Maiden, Steel Angel Kurumi, Magical Meow Meow Taruto, and UFO Princess Valkyrie, with those series' tendencies for elaborate character designs, Scenery Porn, and Magitek.
Tropes:
- Alas, Poor Villain: Surprisingly, Mika of all people gets one of these. Right after we learn her Freudian Excuse for her Psycho Lesbian tendencies, she's killed by Kazuya who then kidnaps Kaon. As she dies of her stomach wound, she expresses regret for her actions to Himiko, laments over Kaon never returning her feelings, begging Himiko to save her.
- Back from the Dead: Kazuya, at least from everyone else's perspective. Turns out he was Not Quite Dead after all.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: The Ayanokouji family seems to get progressively bigger and more screwed up with each passing episode.
- Bodyguard Crush: Setsuna feels this for Kyoshiro, even though he loves Kuu.
- Character Name and the Noun Phrase: The original title translates to Kyoshiro and the Eternal Sky.
- Duality Motif: Mika Ayanokoji, whose right iris is purple and the left, orange (though, the latter may be an implant). Her dual nature seems to be that she is simultaneously manipulative and scheming and dangerously passionate for Kaon.
- Dub Name Change: Shattered Angels is known in Japan as Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora
- Expy: It's an anime based on previous works by Kaishaku after all.
- Kyoshiro, Kuu and Setsuna are based on Ogami, Kurusu and Kiraha from The Cross Triangle.
- Valteishia is inspired on Valkyrie from UFO Princess Valkyrie.
- Tarlotte is based on Taruto from Magical Meow Meow Taruto.
- Himiko, Kaon and Jin are based on Himeko, Chikane and Ogami from Destiny of the Shrine Maiden.
- Goggles Do Nothing: Kozue is constantly wearing goggles. On a brief blackback she can be seen wearing them as a little girl.
- Love Triangle: They're everywhere! The one that gets the most focus is Kuu-Kyoshiro-Setsuna, but there's also Himiko-Kaon-Mika and sort of Kyoshiro-Kuu-Kazuya. In the final episode, there's even a suggestion of a Jin-Himiko-Kaon triangle, which is not surprising considering that Jin is reminiscent of Soma from Destiny of the Shrine Maiden.
- Market-Based Title: The series is known as Shattered Angels in English-speaking countries.
- Meaningful Name: Kuu means "void" and she believes she's "missing out" something. As it turns out, she and Valteisha are two halves of the same angel, with Kuu being the body. No wonder she was missing out something..
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Mika constantly tortures and eventually tries to kill Himiko for taking away Kaon from her.
- Once an Episode: Kuu writes a letter to her prince at the beginning of each episode.
- Psycho Lesbian: Mika. She's head over heels for Kaon, had Himiko imprint on Kaon just to activate her and is furious that Kaon's in love with Himiko that she tortures Himiko over it and overrides Kaon's imprint to Himiko's with her own.
- The Un-Reveal: The final episode has Himiko and Kaon talking and Kaon asks for Himiko's real name. She takes off her glasses and looks up to the moon, only saying "My real name is...", implying that Himiko and Kaon are really reincarnations of Destiny of the Shrine Maiden's Himeko and Chikane.
