Supernatural hi-jinx and high-school shenanigans abound in the new anime, If Her Flag Breaks (Kanojo ga Flag o Oraretara).
The show follows protagonist Souta Hatate, a new student with a special psychic ability. He can see people's fate in the form of small flags that pop up from their heads.
Souta can not only see the flags, but also remove them by saying a few simple words; his comments can literally save the life of a person with a "death" flag.
Unfortunately, Souta thinks that he is cursed to bring misfortune and disaster upon all the people he is close to. So when he sees a flag of friendship or love pop up on a person he knows, he quickly makes a comment to remove that flag. It is his way of stopping any relationship forming. Yet his classmates are determined to be friends with the isolated student.
Each episode sees Souta's circle of friends grow and shows that, even though fate can be strong, a person's perseverance and sincerity can be much stronger.
The show is based on the Japanese young-adult novels by Toka Takei, illustrated by Cuteg. So far Kodansha, Japan's largest publisher, has published eight volumes, plus a manga and two spin-off series.
If Her Flag Breaks is quite funny and offers a lot of laughs, so make sure you, ahem, "flag" it when it pops up on your favourite anime channel.