Bamboo Blade

Bamboo Blade (Japanese: バンブーブレード, Hepburn: BanbÅ« BurÄ"do) is a Japanese manga series written by Masahiro Totsuka and illustrated by Aguri Igarashi. It was serialized in Square Enix's Young Gangan magazine from December 3, 2004 to September 3, 2010. The series tells the story of Toraji Ishida, a luckless high school Kendo 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 adaptation by AIC A.S.T.A was broadcast in Japan between October 2, 2007 and April 2, 2008 on TV Tokyo. The Bamboo Blade manga has been licensed for distribution in North America by Yen Press. The anime has been licensed for distribution in North America by Funimation and began airing on their Funimation Channel 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, Ishida Toshiya. Miyazaki Miyako is based on Miyazaki Masahiro, Eiga Danjuro based on Eiga Naoki, Chiba Kirino based on Chiba Masashi etc., even though there aren't 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 Eiga Naoki, who also isn't very tall just like Eiga Danjuro.

Toraji Ishida (石ç"° 虎侍, Ishida Toraji)

Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese), Ian Sinclair (English)

Also known as "Kojirō", he is the kendo sensei, and also a teacher of politics and economics, at Muroe High School. He is perpetually impoverished and lives from paycheck to paycheck, often taking (or begging for) handouts of food from his students. He is offered the chance of a lifetime -- a year's supply of sushi from an old senpai, if his female kendo team can beat his senpai's in a practice tournament. This inspires Kojirō to put an effort into training his team, much to the delight of his most dedicated student, Kirino Chiba. The only person who knows the real reason for Kojirō's inspiration is Yūji Nakata, who calls him "pathetic".

Tamaki Kawazoe (川添 珠姫, Kawazoe Tamaki)

Voiced by: Ryō Hirohashi (Japanese), Cherami Leigh (English)

Tamaki Kawazoe is a first year high school student who is nicknamed "Tama-chan" for short. Despite being a kendo prodigy, she does not see it as a hobby, but rather just as a chore honed at her home, which happens to be a kendo dojo led by her father. She refuses to join the school's Kendo Club because she thinks it is unnecessary, but temporarily becomes a member in order to fight off a bully. She despises injustice due to her overdeveloped sense of righteousness and fair play inspired from watching tokusatsu (Her favorite being Blade Braver, a show-within-the-show) as a child. She remains a big anime and tokusatsu fan despite her age. She is described as being the strength of the group by Kojirō.

Kirino Chiba (千è'‰ 紀梨乃, Chiba Kirino)

Voiced by: Megumi Toyoguchi (Japanese), Luci Christian (English)

Kirino Chiba is a second year high school student, and the captain of the kendo club. Energetic and enthusiastic, she dreams of leading the team to the nationals. Her family owns a deli named "Chiba Deli". Kirino is very happy that Kojirō has finally begun to put more effort into training his kendo team, but she is oblivious to the real reason that her teacher has suddenly begun to train the team so enthusiastically. She is proud that she is the captain of the kendo club and is more responsible than she appears (i.e., picking up the shinai when the other members leave them lying around on the floor, chiding the other members for not picking up after themselves, etc.). Despite that, however, she has great confidence in Tamaki. She is described as being the heart of the group by Kojirō.

Miyako Miyazaki (宮崎 都, Miyazaki Miyako)

Voiced by: Houko Kuwashima (Japanese), Leah Clark (English)

Miyako Miyazaki is a first year high school student nicknamed "Miya-Miya". She is introduced as a very pretty and friendly girl, and to the surprise of many, the girlfriend of Danjūrō. However, in reality, she possesses "yandere" personality, with a very dark and sadistic side she hides in order to be together with Danjūrō. When Miyako shows her more sadistic side, she is surrounded by a black aura and acts in a rather eerie and cruel manner, but she instantly switches back to her friendly façade when others are approaching or calling her name. However, Toraji seems to understand her "true" self and tells her just to be herself.

Sayako Kuwahara (æ¡'原 鞘子, Kuwahara Sayako)

Voiced by: Sachiko Kojima (Japanese), Brina Palencia (English)

Sayako Kuwahara is a second year high school student who is described as being random and spontaneous, often changing her interests and goals. During her first year, she joins the Kendo Club, but would sometimes disappear for short periods of time, claiming to quit. She and Kirino have known each other since elementary school, and Kirino often calls her "Saya". She is one of the tallest members on the team, which others poke fun at by "mistakenly" calling her a boy.

Satori Azuma (東 聡莉, Azuma Satori)

Voiced by: Rina Satō (Japanese), Carrie Savage (English)

Satori Azuma, a first-year high school student (that is, in the anime), is the fifth and the last person to join the Kendo Club. She is very talented in kendo. In fact, Satori is the second strongest in the club, with Tamaki being the strongest. However, she is very bad with her studies despite her diligence, which is why she decided to quit kendo after middle school--in order to concentrate on her studies. But soon joins the Kendo team, after being told that kendo will help her with her studies by Miya-Miya.

YÅ«ji Nakata (中ç"° 勇次, Nakata YÅ«ji)

Voiced by: Daisuke Sakaguchi (Japanese), Chris Burnett (English)

Yūji Nakata is a kind, cheerful, and helpful first year student who joins the Kendo Club. He is prone to making dramatic or emotional speeches, something the anime-lover Tamaki is amused by. He was a member of his junior high school's kendo club and had also attended the Kawazoe Dojo. He had reached the top eight in the prefectural games during junior high. He is the only person who knows of Kojirō's true reason for training his kendo team with more gusto than before. He also possesses considerable academic skill as he scored fourth out of all the Freshman on the regional exams.

Danjūrō Eiga (栄花 段十朗, Eiga Danjūrō)

Voiced by: Akira Ishida (Japanese), Sean Michael Teague (English)

Also known as Dan-kun or Donny in the English dubbed version of the anime. Danjūrō Eiga is a round and plain-faced first year who joins the Kendo Club with Yūji. He originally wanted to join the Ping Pong Club, but there was no such club in the school. He shocks Yūji and Kojirō when he brings his pretty girlfriend Miyako to join the club. While he finds the basic training to be "boring" (possibly because he wants to impress Miyako), he is rather proficient in scorekeeping, as shown in one episode of the anime. Despite this, he was able to secure second place in his first High School Kendo Tournament, although Ishida claims that it was only because of a series of flukes. While he generally comes off as rather dim-witted, it appears he is perceptive to the character Miyako doesn't want him to see.

§Anime episodes

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

§References

§Further reading

• Dacey, Katherine (July 6, 2009). "Bamboo Blade, Vol. 1". The Manga Critic. 

§External links

• Manga official website (Japanese)
• Anime official website (Japanese)
• AIC A.S.T.A's website for the anime (Japanese)
• TV Tokyo's website for the anime (Japanese)
• Funimation official Bamboo Blade website
• Bamboo Blade (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Bamboo Blade (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Manga Life review