Sword Gai

is a Japanese manga series written by Toshiki Inoue with original character design by Keita Amemiya and scenario by . The first twelve episodes ("Part I") of an anime adaptation titled ''Sword Gai: The Animation'' were released on Netflix worldwide on March 23, 2018. Part II was released on July 30, 2018.

Plot

Gai is a young man who is an apprentice to the blacksmith Amon, who found him as a newborn with the legendary katana Shiryū, revealed to be one of many cursed weapons found worldwide that turn their wielder, who is known as a Chrysalis, into a thrall who embodies their murderous impulses. On the night Amon found Gai, the katana had sent one of its keepers on one such murderous spree with it, during which he confronted Gai’s parents. After killing Gai’s father, Gai’s mother, who was pregnant with him, used Shiryū to kill the attacker and committed suicide rather than be consumed herself by the weapon’s bloodlust. After Gai loses his right arm when a ceremony to subdue Shiryū goes wrong, Amon forges it into a prosthetic limb for Gai. What makes matters worse is a Chrysalis will gradually lose their humanity until finally transforming into armored monsters called Busoma, making them that much harder to stop. Becoming a Chrysalis with the ability to fuse with his weapon, Gai attempts to retain his humanity while fighting the Busoma, whose drive to seek combat threatens to exterminate humanity.

Characters

;
:
:User of Demonic Sword Shiryū. When he was born, his mother committed suicide to avoid being consumed by Shiryū's bloodlust. Soon after, Amon found and adopted him, taking him in as his apprentice. After losing his right arm in a failed ceremony meant to subdue Shiryū, he gains the ability to fuse with it after Amon forges it into a prosthetic limb to replace his arm.
;
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:User of Chakram.
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:Amon's daughter.
;
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:Gai's adoptive father, who adopted him during infancy and took him in as his apprentice following his mother's death.
;Kigetsu
:
;
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:User of Fallgon Sword.
;
:
:User of Azoth Sword.
;Mina Haraya
:
;
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:Former administrator of the Shoshidai, User of Zsoltgewinn.
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:Current administrator of the Shoshidai.
;Midoriko
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:A Underground Idol and User of Flanberge Sword.
;Yasuko Tanaka
:
:User of Gallon's Hammer.
;Issei Ariga
:
:User of Nebestigma.
;Arnys
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;Shin Matoba
:
;Kazuma Matoba
:
;Rie Matoba
:
;Kuromaru
:
;Kagatsuka
:
;Himiko
:
:Leader of the Gabi.
;Kazumo
:
;
:
;Hakim
:
;Tatsumi
:
;Kiyomi
:
;Kei
:

Media

Manga

Written by Toshiki Inoue and illustrated by Keita Amemiya (characters) and (scenario), ''Sword Gai'' started in Hero's Inc.'s manga magazine ' from November 1, 2012, to September 1, 2015. Shogakukan Creative collected its chapters in six volumes, released from June 5, 2013, to November 5, 2015.

A direct sequel by the same author, titled , was serialized in the same magazine from October 31, 2015, to June 1, 2019. Its chapters were collected in seven volumes, released from May 22, 2016, to August 5, 2019.

Anime

An anime adaptation originally developed by DLE and Fields was scheduled to air in April 2016, but it was delayed indefinitely until Netflix streamed the series worldwide on March 23, 2018. Tomohito Naka directed the series while Takahiro Ikezoe served as the chief director, Inoue himself wrote the scripts, Atsuko Nakajima designed the characters, Toshiki Kameyama was the sound designer, and Kotaro Nakagawa composed the music. ''Sword Gai: The Animation'' was animated by LandQ Studios. The opening theme song is by Yūto Uemura. Sentai Filmworks will release the series on home video.

Episodes

=Season 1

=

=Season 2

=

References

External links

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{{Netflix original animated series and films

2018 anime ONAs
Anime series based on manga
Dark fantasy anime and manga
Japanese-language television shows
Netflix original anime
Seinen manga
Shogakukan manga