Bamboo Blade
manga
AuthorMasahiro Totsuka
IllustratorAguri Igarashi
PublisherSquare Enix
MagazineYoung Gangan
FirstDecember 3, 2004
LastSeptember 3, 2010
Volumes14
Bamboo Blade B
manga
AuthorMasahiro Totsuka
IllustratorNeko Sutajio
PublisherSquare Enix
MagazineMonthly Shōnen Gangan
FirstJanuary 10, 2009
LastNovember 12, 2013
Volumes12
Bamboo Blade C
manga
AuthorMasahiro Totsuka
IllustratorJingu Takao
PublisherSquare Enix
MagazineMonthly Big Gangan
FirstMay 25, 2013
LastAugust 25, 2016
Volumes7
BB Deformer
manga
AuthorMasahiro Totsuka
IllustratorSaki Azumi
PublisherSquare Enix
MagazineMonthly Big Gangan
FirstOctober 25, 2013
LastAugust 25, 2016
Volumes2
Bamboo Blade
tv series
DirectorHisashi Saitō
ProducerTsuneo Takechi
Shigeaki Komatsu
Hiroshi Yoshida
Jiyū Ōgi
Masataka Katagiri
WriterHideyuki Kurata
MusicKiyohiko Senba
StudioAIC ASTA
NetworkTV Tokyo
FirstOctober 2, 2007
LastApril 2, 2008
Episode list
  1. Anime episodes
Episodes26

Bamboo Blade (stylized as BAMBOO BLADE) 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 2004 to September 2010.[1] 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 2007 and April 2008 on TV Tokyo. The Bamboo Blade manga has been licensed for distribution in North America by Yen Press.[2] The anime has been licensed for distribution in North America by Funimation and began airing on their Funimation Channel on October 25, 2010.[3]

Characters

Main article: List of Bamboo Blade 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, 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 Naoki Eiga, who also is not very tall, just like Eiga.

Media

Manga

Written by Mashiro Totsuka and illustrated by Aguri Igarashi, Bamboo Blade began serialization in Gangan Comic's seinen manga magazine supplement Young Gangan on December 3, 2004. The series finished on September 3, 2010. Its chapters were collected in fourteen tankōbon volumes.

Bamboo Blade was published in English by Yen Press from May 12, 2009, to August 21, 2012, and digitally on April 22, 2014.

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.[4]

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."[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "ja:2004年12月3日創刊号発売" (in Japanese). Square Enix. Archived December 7, 2004 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  2. ^ "Yen Press Announces Titles to Run in Anthology Mag". Anime News Network. April 19, 2008. Archived 21 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2008-04-19.
  3. ^ Funimation Channel Schedule, October 2010
  4. ^ Bamboo Blade: Sorekara no Chousen, GameFAQ. (Archived 2015-09-20 at the Wayback Machine)
  5. ^ Japanime, Andrez Bergen. Impact, June 2008.

Further reading

Manga
Anime