''Bamboo Blade'' (stylized as ''BAMBOO BLADE'') is a Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written by Masahiro Totsuka and illustrated by

Aguri Igarashi is a Japanese manga artist. She is the illustrator for best selling manga series, ''Bamboo Blade''. She has also collaborated with Ritz Kobayashi on Saki Achiga-hen episode of Side-A Bibliography * (2004, Square Enix); (2009, Yen Press) * (2 ...

. It was serialized in

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, video game publisher and entertainment conglomerate. It releases role-playing video game, role-playing game franchises, such as ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', and '' ...

's ''

Young Gangan is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company merged with Square to form Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in t ...

'' magazine from December 2004 to September 2010. The series tells the story of Toraji Ishida, a luckless high school

Kendo is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords ( shinai) as well as protective armor ( bōgu). It began as samurai warriors' customary swordsmanship ex ...

instructor, who is challenged by his former upperclassman, also a kendo instructor, to a competition between their female students. The bet inspires Toraji to gather and train a team of five girls, where he meets Tamaki Kawazoe, a gifted young female kendo practitioner. An

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

adaptation by AIC A.S.T.A was broadcast in Japan between October 2007 and April 2008 on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Yen Press Yen Press is an American manga, graphic novel and light novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published '' Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, ...

. The anime has been licensed for distribution in North America by

Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...

and began airing on their

Funimation Channel Funimation was an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime and other foreign entertainment properties in North America. It streamed popula ...

on October 25, 2010.

Characters

Some of the character's names are based on real professional kendo practitioners. Ishida Toraji is based on the famous kendoka Toshiya Ishida. Miyako Miyazaki is based on Masahiro Miyazaki, and Danjuro Eiga is based on

Naoki Eiga Naoki Eiga (栄花直輝 Eiga Naoki, born 1967) is a Japanese kendoka who in 2000 won the individual event at World Kendo Championship (WKC) as well as the highest title in Kendo: All Japan Kendo Champion. His progress toward the championship ...

, Kirino Chiba is based on Masashi Chiba etc., even though there are not any relations between the ''Bamboo Blade'' characters in regards to the real kendoka. Eiga Dan is the only exception, as he seems to be designed to represent

, who also is not very tall, just like Eiga.

Anime episodes

Video game

A video game titled "Bamboo Blade: Sorekara no Chousen" was released for PSP. It is an Action game that was developed and published by Gadget Soft. It was released in Japan in 2009.

Reception

"The recent series from anime production house AIC A.S.T.A is a surprise - and yet not really one at all," wrote Andrez Bergen in the June 2008 issue of U.K. magazine, ''

impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a large force or mechanical shock over a short period of time * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Imp ...

''. "While ''Bamboo Blade'' follows the travails of a bunch of high school girls in one very special kendo team, rather than boys, the producers were previously responsible for ''

Gun Sword , is a Japanese anime television series animated by AIC A.S.T.A, written by Hideyuki Kurata, and directed by Gorō Taniguchi. Plot The story is set on the "Planet of Endless Illusion", a place where rogues of all sorts gather. The protagon ...

'', a series in which one very special woman - Carmen 99 - also pretty much stole the show."''Japanime'', Andrez Bergen. ''

Impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a large force or mechanical shock over a short period of time * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Imp ...

'', June 2008.

Characters

Anime episodes

Video game

Reception

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links