is a

free-to-play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...

collectible card A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other ...

browser video game developed by

Nitroplus Nitroplus Co., Ltd., currently styled as NITRO PLUS, formerly stylized as nitro+, and formerly known as "OKStyle", is a Japanese visual novel video game developer that has developed a number of visual novels, including eroge. They also have been ...

and

DMM Games is a Japan-based electronic commerce and Internet company with a diversified group of businesses that includes online shopping, eikaiwa, and video on demand service. The company manages DMM.com, an online entertainment site that allows users to ...

. The game was launched in Japan in January 2015, and worldwide in April 2021. The franchise has inspired and been adapted as three

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

productions, a two separate productions of a long-running stage play series, a live-action film, and a spin-off game.

Gameplay

Players assume the role of a who travels into the past to defeat evil forces, and has the ability to animate legendary swords, which are depicted as attractive young men. ''Touken Ranbu'' is essentially a gender-swapped clone of ''

Kantai Collection , abbreviated as , is a Japanese free-to-play web browser game developed by Kadokawa Games and published by DMM.com. The central theme of the game is the representation of World War II warships Moe anthropomorphism, personified as teenage girls ...

'', another game by DMM, which uses

moe anthropomorphism is a form of anthropomorphism in anime and manga where '' moe'' qualities are given to non-human beings (such as animals, plants, supernatural entities and fantastical creatures), objects, concepts, or phenomena. In addition to ''moe'' feature ...

to portray historical warships as young girls. Character designs in ''Touken Ranbu'' are inspired by the type of sword they portray as well as the period of history they come from. Combat is largely automated, with progress mainly dependent on

resource management In organizational studies, resource management is the efficient and effective development of an organization's resources when they are needed. Such resources may include the financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or i ...

and

grinding Grind is the cross-sectional shape of a blade. Grind, grinds, or grinding may also refer to: Grinding action * Grinding (abrasive cutting), a method of crafting * Grinding (dance), suggestive club dancing * Grinding (video gaming), repetitive and ...

. Farming the four types of materials available in the game is required to forge and collect more swords. A number of actions in game are controlled by real time countdowns, such as repairs and forging or collecting new swords. ''Touken Ranbu'' can be played in a

web browser A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on ...

or in a phone application. The worldwide version of the game is hosted on the website of Chinese game developer Johren.

Reception

''Touken Ranbu'' quickly became very popular in Japan, particularly with young women, and had over 1.5 million registered players by 2016. The game has been credited with accelerating the Japanese cultural trend of – women who are interested in, and who pose with, historical Japanese swords. That trend had been started a few years previously with the ''

Sengoku Basara is a series of video games developed and published by Capcom, and a bigger media franchise based on it, including four anime shows, an anime movie, a live action show, a magazine series, a trading card game, and numerous drama CDs, light nove ...

'' video games, which made katana fans a distinct part of the Japanese subculture of female history aficionados (''

reki-jo are Japanese female history buffs, who may also use the speech and mannerisms of pre-industrial Japan in their social gatherings. ''Reki-jo'' are a kind of otaku, people obsessed with a particular interest. Economic activity relating to the fad g ...

''). The popularity of ''Touken Ranbu'' was such that a Japanese women's interest magazine published an article about exercise routines based on sword fighting techniques from the game, and the 2015 Tokyo

Wonder Festival The , or , is a semiannual (February and August) event held in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is sponsored by the Kaiyodo manufacturing company. The main focus is to display and sell "garage kits", which are sculptures that usually repr ...

's figure exhibition was reportedly "completely dominated by hot male swordsmen". ''Touken Ranbu'' has inspired various restoration campaigns for swords represented in the game which were destroyed or damaged in real life. Donors contributed 45 million

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...

to a

crowdfund Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

in order to make a replica of

Hotarumaru is an '' ōdachi'' ( Japanese huge greatsword) forged by the swordsmith and an Important Cultural Property of Japan. History The name came from a legend that one night flaws on the blade were repaired by fireflies. The is also known as sin ...

Related media

Anime

The game has received two

adaptations. The first is '' Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru'' (2016) by

Doga Kobo is a Japanese animation studio formed by former Toei Animation members Hideo Furusawa and Megumu Ishiguro, located in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan. The studio was established on July 11, 1973, and has been involved in the production of a large number of ...

and

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer an ...

, and the second is ''

Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu is a Japanese anime television series produced by Ufotable and Aniplex and directed by Toshiyuki Shirai, with music composed by Hideyuki Fukasawa. It is based on the video game ''Touken Ranbu''. The anime series aired between July 1 and Sept ...

'' (2017) by

Ufotable is a Japanese animation studio founded in October 2000 by former staff of the TMS Entertainment subsidiary Telecom Animation Film and located in Suginami, Tokyo. A unique hallmark seen in many of their works (''Ninja Nonsense'', ''Futakoi Alterna ...

and

Aniplex is a Japanese anime, music production and anime licensee company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Established in September 1995, Aniplex has been involved in the production and distribution of several anime series, such as both ''Fullm ...

. In May 2022, it was announced that the series' 2016 stage play ''Touken Ranbu Kyoden Moyuru Honnōji'' will be adapted as an anime.

Kenichi Suemitsu is a Japanese playwright, scriptwriter, stage director and actor represented by Watanabe Entertainment. His most notable works are the ''Stage: Touken Ranbu'' and ''Trump (series), TRUMP series'' stage plays. Biography Suemitsu was born in Osaka ...

, the play's director and playwright, will return to handle the scripts.

Stage plays

''Touken Ranbu'' has inspired a series of 2.5D stage plays and

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

since 2016. The stage plays and musicals were both announced simultaneously in 2015 with different companies and cast members behind the two separate productions. '' Musical: Touken Ranbu'', produced with Nelke Planning, first ran on October 30, 2015. '' Stage: Touken Ranbu'', produced by Marvelous and

Dentsu Dentsu Inc. ( ja, 株式会社電通 ''Kabushiki-gaisha Dentsū'' or 電通 ''Dentsū'' for short) is a Japanese international advertising and public relations joint stock company headquartered in Tokyo. Dentsu is currently the largest adverti ...

, began running on May 3, 2016.

Film

A live-action film adaptation was released on January 18, 2019. The cast from '' Stage: Touken Ranbu'' reprised their roles. The film was distributed by

and

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

, directed by Saiji Yakumo, and written by

Yasuko Kobayashi is a Japanese anime and tokusatsu drama screenwriter who has been involved in various television shows throughout her career, beginning in 1993 with '' Tokusou Robo Janperson''. In September 2022, Kobayashi launched a new manga series with illu ...

Spin-off games

In August 2021,

Koei Tecmo is a Japanese video game, amusement and anime holding company created in 2009 by the merger of Koei and Tecmo. Koei Tecmo Holdings owns several companies, the biggest one of those being its flagship game developer and publisher Koei Tecmo Game ...

announced they were developing ''Touken Ranbu Warriors'', a

hack and slash Hack and slash, also known as hack and slay (H&S or HnS) or slash 'em up, refers to a type of gameplay that emphasizes combat with melee-based weapons (such as swords or blades). They may also feature projectile-based weapons as well (such as ...

game based on their ''Warriors'' franchise. The game is developed by

Omega Force (stylised as ''ω-Force'') is a Japanese video game developer and a division of Koei Tecmo, founded in 1996 by Akihiro Suzuki and Kenichi Ogasawara, and is best known for the ''Dynasty Warriors'' video games. History Omega Force was founded ...

and

Ruby Party Ruby Party (, ''Rubī Pātī'') is the Japanese brand name of Koei Tecmo Holdings' women-based game development team.(jaRuby Party BrandKoei website (retrieved 17 April 2022. The team was established around 1990 by Keiko Erikawa. The team has ...

, with DMM Games and Nitroplus distributing. The game was released for the

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

(through DMM Games) on February 17, 2022, in Japan. It was later released on May 24, 2022, in North America and Europe for the Nintendo Switch and Steam.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Token Ranbu 2015 video games Browser games Esports games Fantasy video games Free-to-play video games Japan-exclusive video games Mass media franchises Nitroplus Role-playing video games Science fantasy video games Science fiction video games Video games about time travel Video games developed in Japan Video game franchises DMM Games games