Touken Ranbu-1

In the year 2205, the Touken Danshi, those born from the souls of historical Japanese swords, now defend the World Tree from the newly-branded Quantum Retrograde Army that seeks to kill the Tree.

Type: Blossom

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Overview

It is the year 2205, technology and magic are nigh-indistinguishable from each other, granting those who attune themselves well with it great power. In this world's Japan, there are those amongst the population of Japan who are not satisfied with their country's history. Using their world's technology these people, calling themselves "Historical Revisionists", began to summon copies of different swords' spirits. These incomplete clones, summoned for selfish purposes, took the form of inhuman, frightening demons. The "History Retrograde Army", as the Revisionists called their demon swords, was sent into the past en masse, to interfere with historical events in ways that the Revisionists wished.

However, the Time Government, sensing these intrusions, began to look to TRUE history for their defense. A series of humans who were still in touch with the spirits of nature despite using technology, and through their power, the first true Touken Danshi -- Sword Men -- were born. Around these spirit mages, these saniwa, the Time Government created a hierarchy and began to instruct the saniwa to send their Touken Danshi to the past (though in smaller numbers) to face and defeat the History Retrograde Army's cloned demon swords.

This went on for some time, until their world joined the World Tree. At this moment all those in the past were flung out to their present, and were unable to travel through time again. The Revisionists quickly learned that this was due to the interference from other worlds, and so they made a quick decision -- they would destroy the World Tree and all the worlds on it, save their own. Rebranding their demons as the "Quantum Retrograde Army", they began to send them out to cause trouble anywhere they could.

Whether the World Tree now held them captive or not, however, the Time Government wasn't prepared to let the Revisionists destroy this many worlds. So it seemed that the Touken Danshi would need to aim their efforts elsewhere. Same enemy, but in a whole new world -- many worlds, in fact.

Types of Swords

* Tantou: Daggers. Tend towards smaller human forms. Their range is limited but much easier to cause critical wounds. Tend to be swift and stealthy, but lower stamina. Many of the tantou have sad backstories, since a samurai's tantou was often the weapon he used to commit seppuku.

* Wakizashi: Japanese short sword. Also tend towards smaller human forms. Great for indoor fighting, good at stealth, but lower survivability.

* Uchigatana: The sword that most people think of when they think "Japanese sword". They have balanced abilities in general.

* Tachi: Japanese greatsword, designed before the katana. Tend to be stronger than uchigatana, but slower and less stealthy.

* Ootachi: Japanese calvary swords. Large and not suited for indoor fighting. Tend towards very high strength and stamina, but some of the lowest speeds.

* Yari: Spears. These are quite rare as far as Touken Danshi go, with only three currently known, the Three Great Spears of Japan -- Nihongou, Tonbokiri, and Otegine. The possess some of the largest ranges, and can be quite precise with their strikes.

* Naginata: More of a polearm than a spear. Also quite rare, with only three currently known. Where yari are precise, the purpose of a naginata is to attack a large number of enemies in a single strike.

Saniwa

A spirit mage or seer, these people are the ones who give life to the Touken Danshi. The saniwa oversees operations at the Citadel, sending the Touken Danshi to engage the Retrograde Army wherever they pop up. They're quite powerful with spirit magic, but they have no combat ability and must rely on the Swords for protection.

Historical Revisionist

A group of people skilled in "demon" summoning, the Revisionists' first goal was to change the history of Japan in some unknown way. Now that being connected to the World Tree prevents them from moving through time again, they've decided that the best course of action is to destroy the World Tree, figuring that this would "release" their world and time travel would be fixed. This does, of course, fly in the face of the popularly believed theory that this would KILL their world rather than release it.

Quantum Retrograde Army

An army of demonic swords summoned by the Revisionists, these swords come in the same varieties as the Touken Dashi -- tantou, wakizashi, uchigatana, tachi, ootachi, yari, and naginata. However they have little variation amongst individual types, as they're demon clones.

Touken Danshi

This literally means "Sword Men" or "Sword Boys", depending on which characters are used to spell it. Thusly, yes... all of the Touken Danshi are male, although some defy traditional societal gender roles in their dress or attitude. These men/boys originate from the Japanese swords throughout history, their spirits given human form by a saniwa (a spirit mage or seer). Their names, origins, and personality are usually affected by their former masters and/or the legends surrounding them. Their capabilities however, are vastly superior to the humans of their world.