Beat Angel Escalayer

I'm not too happy about being blackmailed into this but, y know...Saving the Earth might just feel really, really good

—Kyouhei at the end of the prologue, having just lost his virginity.

Beat Angel Escalayer (超昂天使エスカレイヤー, Chōkō Tenshi Esukareiyā), is an Eroge developed by AliceSoft and released in 2002 on PC. It was adapted into a three episode anime series produced by the studio Pink Pineapple, and later got a remake in 2014 titled Choukou Tenshi Escalayer Reboot. There exists an English dub of the series, but no localization of the game has been made for years until the official release of the remake by MangaGamer, as Beat Angel Escalayer R, released in June 2020.

Kyouhei Yanase, a student in Kannuki City, discovers that the new transfer student of his class happens to be Sayuka Kouenji, his long lost Childhood Friend, but she doesn't seem to recognize him at all. Later on, mysterious alien forces began to invade Earth with Japan as the starting ground, introducing themselves as the intergalactic empire of Dai-Lust. While attempting to chase Sayuka, Kyouhei eventually finds her in a back alley, absorbed in masturbation and suddenly screaming in orgasm upon seeing him, before being surrounded in a light halo and turning her into Escalayer, the angelic warrior.

The astounded Kyouhei is left voiceless as he witnesses his childhood friend turned warrior getting rid of Dai-Lust forces by herself with otherworldly powers. While returning home, he stumbles upon an odd girl presenting herself as Madoka Kouenji, a robot living with Sayuka and her self-proclaimed sister. Madoka goes on to explain that Sayuka acquired the necessary energy to transform into Escalayer and drive away Dai-Lust only by experiencing sexual arousal, and then formally asks Kyouhei to act as Sayuka's partner. Hesitant at first, he eventually accepts upon hearing her plea with some blackmailing from Madoka.

Sayuka, the main heroine, who is tasked with saving the world, has abilities that are powered by an artificial heart named "Dynamic ba-Dump Dynamo" (DDD), which is recharged by sexual arousal, and this powers her Magical Girl ability to turn into Escalayer. The game and series consist mainly of a Monster of the Week format, with raising sim mechanics where the player has to manage his relationship with Sayuka. Depending on how the protagonist choose to treat Sayuka, the overall tone can vary from very depressing to overly positive. The game was popular enough to have a Spiritual Successor some years later, aptly named Beat Blades Haruka, which has a similar gameplay.

Tropes used in Beat Angel Escalayer include:

Accidental Murder: In the Brutal route, Kyouhei rapes FM77 on her sleep, but that also leads to organ failure and her death. He feels guilty but is unable to confess.
Alien Invasion: The game depicts the events of Sayuka and Kyouhei's fight against the empire of Dai-Lust, and their attempts to invade Earth.
Amnesiac Hero: Sayuka suffers of memory problems thanks to the mind transplant on Escalayer's body not being quite perfect. That is why she doesn't recognise Kyouhei at first.
Bait and Switch: Sayuka's introduction by Kyouhei seems to hint he was nice to her, only for him to reveal he cruelly bullied her, making him wonder if she holds a grudge over it.
Beta Test Baddie: FM77, a biological clone of Escalayer, ends up antagonising her in order to prove herself to be the "real" Escalayer.
Big Bad: Presbane, the leader of Dai-Lust, is the leader of the invasion and therefore its primary cause.
Bittersweet Ending: The Normal Brutal ending, almost bordering on downer. Sayuka repeals the Dai-Lust invasion, but the aliens just keep coming, with Alc, Grandiene and Galleyz taking refuge on the moon; society's also has gone through a moral decay, with she and the men around her giving to depravity to recharge her energy; and Kyouhei has become a remorseless murderer keeping Sayuka chained to him through false declarations of love.
Blatant Lies: Madoka tries to pretend she doesn't know who Kyouhei is after almost saying his name correctly before Kyouhei can even begin to explain why he was in front of the house of her family.
Cassandra Truth: Sayuka's father tried to warn everybody about Dai-Lust, but his warnings fell on deaf ears, forcing him to use his own daughter as weapon, since she believed in him.
Childhood Friend Romance: Sayuka can be Unlucky or Victorious, depending on which ending the player gets.
Clark Kenting:
- Sayuka's disguise, though it does help her flashy, skimpy Escalayer costume is pretty different of her usual clothes.
- Grandiene is well less excusable; she only wears half a mask and a skimpier but not that much outfit compared to her disguise as Ryouko.
Cloning Blues: FM77 suffered from this upon learning she was merely a clone of the original Escalayer, but in the Pure Love Route eventually gets over it after being adopted by Kyouhei.
Cyborg: Getsen is said to be seventy-five percent machine.
Darkest Hour: After badly losing to FM77 in their first fight, Sayuka asks Kyouhei to treat her cruelly in order to gain power faster. Whether or not he chooses to do so is up to the player, and it paves the way for the Romance (refusing) and Brutal (accepting) routes.
Deus Sex Machina: For Female Frusts, getting rid of their transformation usually requires to have sex with them.
The Dragon: Mistrene is the leader of Earth invasion, specifically, so she is the close physical threat to the heroes rather than the distant Presbane.
Face Heel Turn: In the Brutal route, Kyouhei takes a sharp turn to pure evil as he grows dependent on Sayuka and becomes willing to kill her father so she can't possible separate from him.
Hot Teacher: Ryouko is very easy on the eyes and curvy.
Intimate Healing: Of the "sex to recharge energy" type, because of the way the DDD works.
Lack of Empathy: In the Brutal route, Sayuka basically steps on Kyouhei's feelings because he feels sadistic pleasure from things she begged him to do, while openly talking about how she will leave and also erase all of her memories of their time close together.
Karmic Death: Tinker Frust is eliminated by being raped by the grown men she hates so much and had turned into kids.
Mad Scientist: Dr. Alc, responsible for creating most of the Dis-Grunts and Frusts seen in the game. He also created FM77, a clone of Escalayer.
Magical Girl: The plot mainly consists of Kyouhei helping Sayuka to transform into a super-heroine, and beat the crap out of many monsters with magical powers.
Meaningful Name: Gentsen is exiled to Planet Guerrero, whose name means "warrior" in Spanish. It is filled with bloodthirsty savage predators.
Meganekko: When not transformed, Sayuka wears glasses with her civilian clothes.
Monster of the Week: The events of the game spans an entire month, in which Dis-Grunts and Frusts appear in Kannuki City with a different plan each time.
Multiple Endings: Depending on your actions, several endings can be achieved:
- Romance Ending: Achieved by being a good partner to Sayuka and being nice to her.
  - Complete Victory: Requires to be on the way of the Romance Ending with additional conditions, and the only ending where the Bigger Bad is fought.
- Brutal Ending: Abusing Sayuka, and most of the time acting like a dick with her.
- Madoka Ending: Choosing Madoka over Sayuka during the events of the game.
- Ryouko Ending: Choosing Ryouko over Sayuka during the events of the game.
- The game also has a lot of bad endings, usually when losing to important battles.
Naughty Tentacles: Usually what happens if Escalayer loses boss fights, meaning it's entirely possible to avoid them entirely should the player be careful enough.
Promethean Punishment: If you lose battles, Sayuka gets raped, but since having sex ups her stats, it's not exactly the smartest thing the monster can do. However, losing too much battles eventually corrupts Escalayer and causes her to betray mankind.
Ridiculously Human Robot: Madoka looks like a real human, apart from her robotic voice. She even can have sex like a normal human.
She's All Grown Up: Sayuka and Kyouhei used to be neighbours when they were little.
Spiritual Successor: The later game Beat Blades Haruka has a more interactive battle system and more heroines to manage, but is essentially Escalayer with ninjas instead of aliens.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: In the Brutal route, if Sayuka didn't talk so openly about hoe she was going to leave Kyouhei behind and also erases almost all of her memories of him, it is pretty likely he never would conceived a twisted plan to kill her father so she could stay in her bio-body with her memories intact.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Alc and Mistrene aren't good terms from day one, since the first reported Getsen's defeat to Presbane, that led to Getsen's exile, despite Mistrene being his commander.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
- Getsen's defeat in the first battle of the game makes the Big Bad Presbane want to kill him immediately, but Mistrene manages to avoid it by saying she will also take punishment.
- FM77 is discarded by Alc once Escalayer comes up with a different finishing move; turns out she isn't even powerful as Escalayer and is only immune to her initial finishing move.
The Unfought: In the Brutal Route, you never fight Galleyz or Alc, as they run away to the moon before Escalayer can confront them.
Violence is the Only Option: In the Brutal ending, Kyouhei resorts to shoot Sayuka's father, without ever trying to make amends or any gesture to make at least Sayuka's memories of him be preserved.
You Lose At Two Peace Points: On top of managing Sayuka's love life, the player also needs to keep an eye of the Peace gauge, which decreases over time as long as Dis-Grunts and Frusts are present. If it's allowed to decrease below two points, it triggers a bad ending in which Sayuka joins the Earth army, only for them to fail.