Touken Ranbu
| Touken Ranbu | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Nitroplus |
| Publisher(s) | DMM Games |
| Platform(s) | Adobe Flash |
| Release date(s) | January 14, 2015 |
| Genre(s) | Online web browser game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Touken Ranbu (刀剣乱舞 Tōken Ranbu, lit. "Wild Dance of Swords") is a free-to-play collectible card browser video game developed by Nitroplus and DMM Games, available only in Japan since January 2015.[1] It is being adapted as two anime series.
Gameplay
Players assume the role of a sage (審神者 saniwa) who travels into the past to defeat evil forces, and has the ability to animate legendary swords, which are depicted as attractive young men. Touken Ranbu is mostly a gender-swapped clone of the game Kantai Collection, also by DMM, which anthropomorphizes historical warships as young girls. Combat is largely automated, with progress mainly dependent on resource management and grinding.
Reception
Touken Ranbu quickly became very popular in Japan, particularly with young women, and had over a million registered players as of June 2015. The game has been credited with accelerating the Japanese cultural trend of "katana women" (カタナ女子 katana joshi) – women who are interested in, and who pose with, historical Japanese swords. That trend had been started a few years previously with the Sengoku Basara video games, which made katana fans a distinct part of the Japanese subculture of female history aficionados (reki-jo).[1] The popularity of Touken Ranbu was such that a Japanese women's interest magazine published an article about exercise routines based on sword fighting techniques from the game,[2] and the 2015 Tokyo Wonder Festival's figure exhibition was reportedly "completely dominated by hot male swordsmen".[3]
Anime
| Touken Ranbu | |
| Anime television series | |
| Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Takashi Naoya |
| Written by | Pierre Sugiura |
| Music by | Kenji Kawai |
| Studio | Doga Kobo |
| Licensed by |
‹See Tfd› |
| Network | Tokyo MX, KTV, BS11 |
| English network |
‹See Tfd› |
| Original run | October 3, 2016 – present |
| Episodes | 12 |
| Anime television series | |
| Studio | Ufotable |
| Original run | 2017 – scheduled |
The game is to receive two anime adaptations. The first, Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru (刀剣乱舞-花丸-), is a television series produced by Doga Kobo, directed by Takashi Naoya and written by Pierre Sugiura, with character designs by Junichiro Taniguchi. The first episode debuted 3 October 2016. Funimation has licensed Hanamaru for an English language release.[5]
The second adaptation will be produced by Ufotable, and is scheduled to air in 2017.[6]
Voice cast (2016 series)
| Characters | English[7] |
|---|---|
| Yasusada Yamatonokami | Dallas Reid |
| Kiyomitsu Kashu | Garret Storms |
| Heshikiri Hasebe | Aaron Roberts |
| Imanotsurugi | Anastasia Muñoz |
| Ishikirimaru | Justin Duncan |
| Nikkari Aoe | Robby Gemaehlich |
| Kasen Kanesada | Oscar Seung |
| Hachisuka Kotetsu | Ian Sinclair |
| Yoshiyuki Mutsunokami | Jason Liebrecht |
| Maeda Toshiro | Ryan Reynolds |
| Shishio | Blake Shepard |
| Yagen Toshiro | Derick Snow |
| Namazuo Toshiro | Rachel Robinson |
| Mitsutada Shokudaikiri | Marcus D. Stimac |
| Yamanbagiri Kunihiro | Clifford Chapin |
| Souza Samonji | Ian Sinclair |
| Gokota | Leah Clark |
References
- 1 2 Ashcraft, Brian (10 June 2015). "Japan's Newest Trend: Katana Women". Kotaku. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
- ↑ Green, Scott (8 July 2015). "Women's Interest Magazine Offers Fitness Routine Inspired by Anthropomorphic Sword Boys of "Touken Ranbu -ONLINE-"". Crunchyroll. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
- ↑ Wilson, Scott (30 July 2015). "Wonder Festival Summer 2015 figure exhibition completely dominated by hot male swordsmen". Rocket News 24. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
- ↑ "Aniplus HD to Simulcast Tōken Ranbu: Hanamaru, 4th Uta no Prince-sama Anime". Anime News Network. September 26, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
- ↑ "Funimation Announces Fall English Dub Line-Up". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
- ↑ "Tōken Ranbu Browser Game Gets 2 Anime Adaptations". Anime News Network. 26 March 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
- ↑ "Funimation Reveals Dub Casts for Show By Rock!! 2, Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru, Trickster". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
