Bamboo Blade

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Bamboo Blade
バンブーブレード (Banbū Burēdo)
Genre	Comedy, Sports, Slice of life story
Manga
Author	Masahiro Totsuka (author) Aguri Igarashi (art)
Publisher	Square Enix
English publisher	Yen Press
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Young Gangan
Original run	December 3, 2004 – ongoing
Volumes	8
TV anime
Director	Hisashi Saitou
Studio	AIC A.S.T.A
Network	TV Tokyo
Original run	October 2, 2007 – April 2, 2008
Episodes	26

Bamboo Blade (バンブーブレード, Banbū Burēdo^?) is a Japanese manga series written by Masahiro Totsuka, and illustrated by Aguri Igarashi. The manga was first serialized in the Japanese seinen manga magazine Young Gangan starting December 3, 2004. The manga has been licensed for distribution in North America by Yen Press.^[1] 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 series tells the story of a 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. Fortuitously, at this time he meets Tamaki Kawazoe, a gifted young female kendo practitioner.

Contents 1 Characters 1.1 Muroe High School 1.2 Machido High School 1.3 Seimei High School 1.4 Others 2 Anime episodes 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Characters

Most surnames are taken from winners of the All Japan Kendo Championships.

[edit] Muroe High School

Toraji Ishida (石田 虎侍, Ishida Toraji^?)

Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi

Also known as "Kojirō", he is the kendo instructor, and also a teacher of politics and economics, at Muroe High School. He is perpetually impoverished and lives from paycheck to paycheck, often taking handouts of food from his students. He is offered the chance of a lifetime from an old senpai -- a year's supply of sushi 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". Kojirō's parents own a convenience store, but it is revealed that they used to own a store that sold sake. Kojirō's parents look young for their age, and in his mother's case, act young (she makes a hobby of collecting cute things). Despite Kojirō's poverty, he somehow owns and maintains a high-performance car. In high school, he was a member of the kendo club, and at that time he defeated his senpai, Kenzaburō, at a tournament to win a trophy. Though he has little affinity for the trophy itself, he cherishes the memory of his victory over Kenzaburō -- though he told Kenzaburō his victory was due to luck, he personally believes he won was because he was stronger than his senpai.

Tamaki Kawazoe (川添 珠姫, Kawazoe Tamaki^?)

Voiced by: Ryō Hirohashi

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 a show) as a child. She remains a big anime and tokusatsu fan despite her age. At first she is very shy and unsociable, but after holding a part-time job at Miyako's acquaintance's store she begins to overcome her shyness and open up to her teammates more often. Kirino and Sayako (and for that matter, most girls in the story) find her very cute, often putting Tamaki's hair up in ponytails or making her fight in kendo matches just because they want to see her fight. She knows Yūji before the series's beginning, and has been called "Tama-chan" by him since their childhood (although she does not like the nickname very much, since it makes her seem childish). She is described as being the strength of the group by Kojirō. Tamaki lost for the very first time in the Kanto High School Kendo Tournament to Rin, Tamaki's arch-rival stemming from the Blade Braver series. Her loss was partly due to the fact that Rin used a stance which reminded her of her late mother causing her to lose focus and concentration temporarily.

She plays the position of General (Taishou) in the competition.

Kirino Chiba (千葉 紀梨乃, Chiba Kirino^?)

Voiced by: Megumi Toyoguchi

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 why 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.). Kirino seems to find Tamaki quite adorable, as she and Sayako will often treat Tamaki as a "little sister" type (i.e., playing with Tamaki's hair, not listening to her kendo lectures, making Tamaki fight merely because she wants to see her fight, etc.). Despite that, however, she has great confidence in Tamaki. She is described as being the heart of the group by Kojirō. She also shows a strong emotional attachment (possibly romantic) to Kojirō as displayed in the last episode when he comes back as the club's instructor.

She plays the position of Second-in-Command (Fukushou) in the competition.

Miyako Miyazaki (宮崎 都, Miyazaki Miyako^?)

Voiced by: Houko Kuwashima

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 a very dark and sadistic personality, but hides it in order to be together with Danjūrō. (In the manga she also smokes in school and hangs out with two girls that are possibly delinquents, but is not seen doing so in the anime) 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. Having only joined the Kendo Club because Danjūrō was in it, she initially finds it boring, but would later enjoy it after realizing she likes to hit people. She has rather quick and powerful strikes, but in the beginning of the series she does not use any other moves other than attempting to strike her opponents in the head (that is, in the anime). In one episode of the anime, however, Miyako was shown to strike at the other areas on her opponent, although none of the strikes counted due to incorrect posture. She is very afraid of her middle school classmate, Reimi Odajima, due to a love relationship incident which got Reimi stalking her ever since. As the series goes on, her kendo skills begins to improve tremendously and she finally managed to score a kote point against Azuma in the 22 episode.

She plays the position of Second-Vanguard (Jihô) in the competition.

Sayako Kuwahara (桑原 鞘子, Kuwahara Sayako^?)

Voiced by: Sachiko Kojima

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. In the storyline, she was seen to improve her footwork tremendously after a brief teaching session from Tamaki. Sayako, like Kirino, thinks that Tamaki is cute, as she and Kirino will sometimes do silly things to Tamaki (i.e., playing with Tamaki's hair, not listening to her kendo lectures, making Tamaki fight merely because she wants to see her fight, etc.). She is rather pessimistic, and always claims to pursue death the moment she fails at something. In the anime, her writer's hobby is seen when telling stories, like explaining why Asuma quit kendo in a dramatic fashion (although her friends gave her three points since they found her "story" uninteresting).

She plays the position of Center (Chûken) in the competition.

Satori Azuma (東 聡莉, Azuma Satori^?)

Voiced by: Rina Satō

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. It is revealed her glasses are fake; she thought she would get smarter by wearing them. Due to the fact that she is rather naïve, she is tricked by Miyako Miyazaki into joining the club, thinking that Kendo will help her improve her studies. Satori is comically clumsy, as demonstrated in the ending sequences and some of the previews in the anime.

She plays the position of Vanguard (Senpou) in the competition.

Yūji Nakata (中田 勇次, Nakata Yūji^?)

Voiced by: Daisuke Sakaguchi

Yūji Nakata is a kind, cheerful, and helpful first year student who joins the Kendo Club. 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. In the Q&A of the manga, Tamaki asserts that he is stronger than Toyama. He is almost on par with Tamaki in skill, and he has defeated Satori Azuma once. Yūji has used kendo to scare away some gangsters, although he panicked after the gangsters had run off. He is also 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

Also known as Dan-kun, 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. While he generally comes off as rather dim-witted, it appears he is perceptive to the character Miyako doesn't want him to see. In Episode 11, he was hinted to also have his own "dark side" during a staring contest he had with Kojirō, although his "black mode" was subtler than Miyako's "black mode" and his aura only showed in his eyes. He has no past experience with Kendo but is improving very quickly, even to the point where Yūji thinks Danjuro might surpass him before they graduate. Yūji has even remarked (in one episode of the anime) that Danjūrō was "made for kendo". Eiga is arguably the smartest member of the Kendo club because he scored 2nd place is the Muroe High School Regional exams for freshman. By the end of the anime series, it is revealed that he is the new captain of the Kendo Club.

Toyama (外山, Toyama^?)

Voiced by: Atsushi Imaruoka

Toyama is the school bully and formerly a member of the Kendo Club. He often ditches kendo practice, and had caused all the previous club members to quit (with the exception of Kirino and Sayako) by pretending to "teach" them techniques, which was just him constantly hitting them with his shinai. Miyako attempts to teach him and Iwasa a lesson one time, but fails to do so when Sayako crashes into her. It appears that neither Toyama nor Iwasa come to kendo anymore. It is also shown in episodes twenty-two and twenty-three that he and Iwasa are delinquents, as they fought two other students when provoked in a video game arcade and destroyed two machines--an act that almost led to the kendo club's suspension. Although he and Iwasa terrorized the kendo club during their brief time in the club, Toyama actually feels that he is not as strong as he appears, as shown in episode twenty-four of the anime. Eventually both he and Iwasa decide to resign from the club to save it from suspension, even though they both do not hate kendo.

Iwasa (岩佐, Iwasa^?)

Voiced by: Yūichi Ishigami

Iwasa is Toyama's friend and fellow Kendo Club member, who also ditches practice. Nothing much is known about this character, and he has not been seen with a shinai before in the anime. In the anime it appears that both he and Toyama have dropped kendo, as they no longer come by. Both he and Toyama are delinquents (see above) and have resigned kendo despite their fondness of it (also see above).

Makoto Iwasa

Makoto is one of the new freshman members of the kendo club, who turns out to be Iwasa's little brother. He is patient, polite and cool-headed unlike his brother whose a delinquet. Makoto is a total beginner when it comes to kendo. He was impressed when he observed Tamaki doing kendo which makes him more motivated to join the kendo club. Makoto's kendo gears were given to him by his brother.

Shinobu Toyama

Shinobu wants to join clubs such as the ping-pong club, lacrosse club, sepak takraw etc., but none of the clubs she likes exist so in the end she joins her friend, Makoto in joining the kendo club. She is impatient and ill-mannered but her attitude is better than her brother's. Her mother gave her, her brother's gears.

[edit] Machido High School

Kenzaburō Ishibashi (石橋 賢三郎, Ishibashi Kenzaburō^?)

Voiced by: Tetsu Inada

Kenzaburō Ishibashi is Kojirō's old senpai and the kendo coach from Machido High School. He was beaten by Kojirō during a kendo meet long ago in their high school years and seems to hold a grudge against him for that, even if it does not seem apparent. Kenzaburō is also jealous of Kojirō's team, particularly because he has Tamaki Kawazoe, a freshman of Muroe High who beat two of his kendo team members in a practice duel one time. Kenzaburō is a more dedicated teacher than Kojirō, but like his kohai he trains his kendo team only for his own personal gain. He is assumed to be married to Yoshikawa-sensei, one of the teachers at Muroe High School and Kojirō's co-worker who was also a temporary advisor to Muroe High's kendo club.

Konatsu Harada (原田 小夏, Harada Konatsu^?)

Voiced by: Kei Shindō

Konatsu Harada, the first third-year student on the team, is the shortest of the five members of the team Kenzaburo chose, and also the shyest. She is rather skilled in kendo as Kenzaburo once remarks that she has a 2-dan rank, is "self-motivated", and comes to practice every day. She is very quiet and can be flustered by some of the things her team, particularly her teacher, does (as shown in one episode of the anime). Konatsu is one of the strongest members on the team, second only to Karen Nishiyama. During a practice match with Muroe High Konatsu was beaten by Tamaki Kawazoe.

Maya Yokoo (横尾 摩耶, Yokoo Maya^?)

Voiced by: Kiyomi Yazawa

Maya Yokoo, the second third-year student on the team, is a competitive and tall girl with more team spirit than anyone else in her team. Maya is a bit of a tomboy and tends to speak in a rather aggressive and foul-mouthed manner, calling her teammates "twits" and "dumbasses" when they do not take kendo seriously. However, she will stick up for her teammates when Yūri says cruel things about them (or rather, Akemi), as shown in two episodes of the anime. Apparently she also seems to have a rather large appetite that causes her to eat so much that she ends up with a severe stomachache later on. Tamaki beat Maya during the last round of the practice match with Muroe High, much to the latter's displeasure and shock.

Yūri Andō (安藤 優梨, Andō Yūri^?)

Voiced by: Mayuko Omimura

Yūri Andō, the first second-year student on the team, is a girl who seems to zone out most of the time and seems not to care much about winning, but her looks can deceive others greatly. She is rather skilled at kendo and is quite sadistic, like Miyako Miyazaki of Muroe High. Another trait of hers that resembles Miyako's is Yūri's tendency to turn "black" and let some of her true nature show through, which always manages to induce fear in everyone, including her own teammates. (Unlike Miyako, however, Yūri also tends to openly badmouth her teammates, particularly Akemi Asakawa, when they do something that displeases her.) When Yūri is showing her crueler side she is surrounded by a rather eerie black aura that looks rather similar to, if not exactly like, Miyako's "black" aura. Yūri also tends to resort to using nasty methods to win (such as tripping people with her foot, stepping on her opponents' feet, and "harassing" her opponent by showing her "black" aura) and then deny that she has cheated in a falsely sweet manner, much to the chagrin of the other members of her kendo team, who are already rather frustrated with her apparent lack of team spirit. Apparently Yūri has a bit of a sweet tooth, as she once cost her team precious time at a practice match with Muroe High by making them stop at a café so she could "charge" her brain with sugar. She apparently does not function well in the morning. Another one of Yūri's disturbing traits , seen in episode 15, is her ability to sleep with her eyes open. This freaks Tamaki out when she wakes up next to her while at Training Camp. Occasionally she is seen reading a book during important moments (such as kendo matches or team member assignments), a habit that only emphasizes her complete lack of desire to win.

Karen Nishiyama (西山 佳恋, Nishiyama Karen^?)

Voiced by: Natsuki Mori

Karen Nishiyama, the third third-year student on the team, is incredibly skilled at kendo, but tends to shake when nervous. When she is cornered in a kendo match she instinctively switches to the offensive, thus effectively beating her opponent. Because of her instinct of going on offense when in trouble Karen is the strongest on her kendo team. Even though she is extremely skilled at kendo, she does not like the idea of fighting an opponent that she does not know in real life, and she will attempt to run away when she is nervous.

Akemi Asakawa (浅川 明美, Asakawa Akemi^?)

Voiced by: Saki Kondō

Akemi Asakawa, the second second-year student on the team, is probably the most undedicated out of all the members of her team, as she seems only to care about her boyfriend to the point where she will ditch kendo club over her boyfriend. When she encounters a problem with her boyfriend she will not do her best and will only go on the defense; however, when her boyfriend makes up with her she will immediately start pouring out all of her effort, making her a rather formidable opponent. Apparently none of her teammates save for Kenzaburō have any real concern for her, as they simply let her constant ditchings slide (even if she is ditching from a kendo match). Kenzaburō, however, is appalled with her habit of constantly ditching kendo just to meet up with her boyfriend and her lack of effort when she is upset. It is revealed in one episode of the anime that Akemi possesses "excellent footwork".

[edit] Seimei High School

Reimi Odajima (小田島, Odajima^?)

Voiced by: Mai Nakahara

A girl who attended the same middle school as Miyako, and became obsessed with her when she beat up a boy who Reimi had a crush on, but who liked Miyako. Since finding out that Miyako joined the kendo club, she follows her to every tournament, taking countless pictures and recording videos of her. Miyako is very disturbed by her stalking, and has lost a few matches due to being distracted by her.

[edit] Others

Sakaguchi

Voiced by: Takashi Nagasako

Sakaguchi is the owner of the kendo equipment shop that Kojirō takes his kendo team to for purchasing equipment. While Sakaguchi's kendo skills are only seen in a series of flashbacks in the anime, it is apparent that he is incredibly skilled at kendo, strong enough to make all of the members of Kojirō's team complain about him. He has a fondness for mochi, although Kojirō's kendo team tends to eat all of Sakaguchi's mochi during their visits to his shop. He is also, as Kojirō puts it, "very competitive".

Tamaki's father

Voiced by: Katsumi Chō

Tamaki's unnamed father is the head of the Kawazoe dojo. He encouraged Tamaki to take up kendo at a very young age, and is therefore responsible for her amazing skill in kendo. Tamaki's father is possibly in his mid-50's as he keeps saying "I'm at an age where I can't even understand Tama-chan anymore" in one episode of the anime. That said, he is in practice a kind, loving, considerate and doting father who merely lacks articulate skills and confidence to express his affections for Tamaki. He constantly worries every time Tamaki brings up Yūji, mistakenly believing that he and Tamaki are seeing each other, to the point he spies on them at training camp to make sure nothing is happening and constantly frowning or making an angry face whenever Yūji's name is brought up.

Rin Suzuki

Voiced by: Maaya Sakamoto

Rin is fond of the "Super Sentai Blade Braver" like Tamaki but she prefers Shinaider (which sort of an enemy) more than the blade bravers. Rin and Tamaki first met during a live action performance, where Red Braver had a guest appearance, and participated in a fan-quiz for the prize of limited edition Blade Braver dolls, where Rin won. Later, they worked together in the new Blade Braver movie. She is the strongest opponent that Tamaki has ever seen and she even won when she first fought Tamaki in kendo while using the ascescion stance. However, she was defeated by Tamaki at the same tournament where Kojirō defeated Kenzaburō nine years ago.

[edit] Anime episodes

#	Title	Original air date
01	"The Bamboo Broom and The Comrade of Justice" "Takebōki to Seigi no Mikata" (竹ぼうきと正義の味方)	October 2, 2007
Kojirō, the coach of Muroe High's kendo club, makes a bet with his senpai, Kenzaburō, on a practice match between both schools, but the fighters must be 5 girls, no boys. Kojirō's victory would mean he could eat all he wants at Kenzaburō's father's sushi restaurant for a full year. Kojirō desperately needs to find more talented female kendo students because he only has 2 girls in his club. With only a month remaining before his match with Kenzaburō's team, he meets an extremely talented freshman, Kawazoe Tamaki.
02	"Blade Braver and Bento" "Burēdo Bureibā to Obentō" (ブレードブレイバーとお弁当)	October 9, 2007
Tamaki's motivation is presented in the form of her favorite tokusatsu, Blade Braver, and feels happy when toraji nicknames her "Red", the leader of the Club's female team. Her relationship with the other club members develop when they start having lunch together and sharing their bento, her everyday bento, however, consisted of a single umeboshi and rice, which she constantly made in honor of her parents, and couldn't share with the others. She start making "shareable" bento at the end of the episode, even though she fells she's disrespecting her parents a little.
03	"Black and Blue" "Burakku to Burū" (ブラックとブルー)	October 16, 2007
The 4th female member of the Kendo Club, Sayako Kuwahara, nicknamed by Toraji as the team's "Blue", is revealed, and has a painful first encounter with Miyako's "Black" personality. (note: the encounter between Saya and Miya-miya is different in the anime from the manga.)
04	"Pink and Blue" "Pinku to Burū" (ピンクとブルー)	October 23, 2007
Miyako learns that the girl she had thrown in the lake the previous day was actually her senpai in the club, this leads her, in her "Pink" personality, to awkwardly try to hide her identity from Sayako to avoid any confrontations. She starts to enjoy more of the club's activities, even though being forced to train from early in the morning, because of the opportunities kendo give to harm others legally. She is eventually convinced by Toraji to apologize and befriends Sayako.
05	"Muroe High and Machido High" "Muroe Kō to Machido Kō" (室江高と町戸高)	October 30, 2007
The day of the match arrives, however, due to the unique personalities of it's members, the Machido High Kendo Club is awfully delayed. The real match starts very late in the episode, and the episode ends with Machido High's members awed by Tamaki's ability, after scoring a point in the first battle.
06	"Tamaki Kawazoe and the Belated Braver" "Kawazoe Tamaki to Chikoku no Bureiba" (川添珠姫と遅刻の武礼葉)	November 6, 2007
After Tamaki's match, which ended in a victory for her, the other matches take place meanwhile she prepares to participate in the last match too. At the end, Muroe High School ends winning 3 wins to 1 loss and 1 tie. Therefore, Kenzaburo challenges Tamaki to a match, impressed of how a girl of her age with such a great talent is in a club like that.
07	"Sushi and Menchikatsu" "Sushi to Menchikatsu" (寿司とメンチカツ)	November 13, 2007
This episode picks up at the end of the previous one, starting with Kenzaburo revealing that he knew the fifth fighter (Bureiba) was actually Tamaki. His challenge to Tamaki is accepted and so Kenzaburo and Tamaki's match starts. Kenzaburo goes all out on Tamaki, and they both score a point, but in the third round, Kenzaburo starts out in Jodan. This forces Tamaki to have a flashback of her mother in the same position. Kenzaburo leaves the match as a tie, and then goes out to a sushi dinner with Koujiru where Koujiru finds out that Kenzaburo's father has given his restaurant away, making their bet void.
08	"Tama-chan and the Part-time Job" "Tama-chan to Arubaito" (タマちゃんとアルバイト)	November 20, 2007
Tamaki sees an anime package on TV that she wants, but later finds out that she does not have enough money for it. At the school's dojo, Tamaki overhears Miyako on the phone talking about how she could not work part-time that day. Tamaki approaches her and inquires about it. Miyako then asks Tamaki to work part time there, to which Tamaki agrees to. Tamaki's father at first disagrees with Tamaki getting job, mostly because the school does not allow students to work part time jobs, but then accepts because he thinks that Tamaki is growing up, and also she will use the money to buy him a gift for his upcoming birthday.
09	"Kōjiro and the Turning Point of Fate" "Kojirō to Unmei no Bunkiten" (コジローと運命の分岐点)	November 27, 2007
Kōjiro has an incident in a public setting that places his teaching prospects at Muroe High School in doubt. With the rest of the club he resolves to get to the Nationals (or some similar honour) in an attempt to improve the club, gain distinction and save his teaching position. A weary Tamaki nears the end of her part time job filling in for Miyako. Then a suspicious customer arrives.
10	"The Melancholy of Miyazaki Miyako and The First Tournament" "Miyazaki Miyako no Yūutsu to Hajitaikai" (宮崎都の憂鬱と初大会)	December 4, 2007
The team enters the high school tournament. Only Tama-chan did well enough to win. Miyako meets her middle school classmate, Otajima Reimi who has a crush on her. Miyako as such became troubled and couldn't concentrate on her match. It was revealed that Reimi used to harass Miyako when they were in middle school. The episode ends off with Kōjiro sensei discussing about a fifth member with Kirino, the club captain.
11	"Animation and Dream" "Animeeshon to Doriimu" (アニメーションとドリーム)	December 11, 2007
12	"Azuma's Circumstnces and Mei's Circumstances" "Azuma no Jijō to Mei no Jijō" (東の事情とメイの事情)	December 18, 2007
This episode dedicates to Mei from Seimei high and Azuma from Muroe High. Mei joined Seimei High's Kendo club to get along with her friends, but many of her friends quit the club as they couldn't take the sensei's strict training. They gear up for the practice match with Muroe High, she had set her mind to quit after the practice match. Kōjiro found out that Azuma didn't want to join the kendo club as her results in examinations were bad. Not because she wasn't able to do it, but she made careless mistakes. Nevertheless, Kirino drags her to the practice match. The episode concludes with Seimei High's Kendo team training against Muroe High's Kendo team.
13	"Teachers and Pupils" "Senseitachi to Seitotachi" (先生たちと生徒たち)	December 25, 2007
Muroe High School Kendo team won all their matches against Seimei high in the practice match. Azuma upon seeing Tama's Strong kendo skills become motivated and took part in the practice match. Before that, Tama had a match with Azuma, despite Azuma losing, she was impressed and therefore became motivated. Mei, from Seimei high who originally wanted to quit decided to stay on as she was impressed by Tama's skills. The episode end off when Seimei High's Sensei competed with Muroe's high sensei and won the match.
14	"Satorin's Determination and Mogyu Mogyu" "Satorin no Ketsui to Mogyumogyu" (さとりんの決意ともぎゅもぎゅ)	January 9, 2008
Kirino and Sayako continue their attempts to persuade Azuma to join the kendo club. Their attempts end only in tears. As they run through and around the school, Miyako hears their mobile lamentation and springs into action. She offers an excuse that she has cleaning duties, then sweetly dumps said duties onto her classmates. Alternating between a good friend, salesperson and snake cornering a frog she attempts to win over Azuma. Miyako's tactics eventually convince Azuma (and later her parents) to join the kendo club with the expectation/condition that it will lead to improved grades. With the team set (and the boys ignored) a training camp is announced. Due to a lack of funds, this intensive training will take place on the school grounds. Tamaki's father is perturbed especially when Tamaki confirms Yūji Nakata will be there.
15	"First Training Camp and First Bath House" "Hatsugasshuku to Hatsusentō" (初合宿と初銭湯)	January 16, 2008
It's training camp at Muroe High, jointly with the five Machido students that they had a practice match with. Tama's father sneaks around worried about the boys while the group cleans up the pool, fights over who gets to train with Tama, and takes a break at the Bath House. After that, they have to deal with one of them sneaking away, pillow fights, Saya's guitar, and even getting freaked out by the sleeping habits of their fellow students (like sleeping with eyes open!). The episode wraps up with Tama and Kirino, the latter who can't help but stay up and hold her shinai a bit longer. Camp ends and everyone returns home, but for Kirino, something more than a warm welcome awaits...
16	"Kirino's Absence and the Preliminary Tournament" "Kirino no Kesseki to Yosen Taikai" (キリノの欠席と予選大会)	January 23, 2008
Kirino is worried by home troubles while the rest of the team worries about her. Saya, sharing a deep connection with Kirino, is prepared to step up for the win and ease Kirino's burden. Despite these troubles, however, Kirino seems even more focused than ever. Meanwhile, Tama is pulled into a deceitful web...
17	"Light and Shadow" "Hikari to Kage" (光と陰)	January 30, 2008
The tournament continues, with Tama seemingly in trouble with the other team's treacherous plots. Satorin (Azuma) encounters a little bit of stomach troubles while Miya-miya is continuously haunted by Reimi's face. Saya does her duty to relieve Kirino's burden, and Kirino does her part as the team's captain. When Tama steps up, she has a little payback in store for her opponent...
18	"The Tournament and the Subsequent Muroe High" "Taikai to Sonogo no Muroe Kou" (大会とその後の室江高)	February 6, 2008
Kōjiro and Tama have a little talk and wounds are tended to. Kirino must stand up in order for the team to keep fighting. The tournament ends and the team is back to base as usual, with Saya off somewhere and Tama alright.
19	"Armadillo and Pangolin" "Arumajiro to Senzankou" (アルマジロとセンザンコウ)	February 13, 2008
Miya-miya and Dan-kun shops for a new Shinai at the Kendo store. There they meet Carrie, an expatriate living in Japan, who falls in love with Dan-kun at first sight. Miya-miya challenges Carrie to a duel.
20	"Braver and Schneider" "BUREIBAA to SHINAIDAA" (ブレイバーとシナイダー)	February 20, 2008
Yuji invites Tama to go to an amusement park that's hosting a Blade Braver concert. At the venue, She meets a girl called Rin who's a fan of Braver's rival, "Shinaidaa". They enter a fan-quiz to win Blade Braver dolls.
21	"Kawazoe Tamaki and Suzuki Rin" "Kawazoe Tamaki to Suzuki Rin" (川添珠姫と鈴木凛)	February 27, 2008
Rin and Tama along with the production crew go on location to film the new Blade Braver movie, where an incident gets both of them the replacement roles in the new film. The rest of the Kendo club members either practice or take the day off doing what they want. The episode concludes with Kōjiro returning from his business trip.
22	"Loser and Winner" "Haisha to Shousha" (敗者と勝者)	March 5, 2008
Muroe High goes to the Kanto High School Kendo Tournament. Miyamiya shows her improvement in practice, but fails to defeat Carrie in the tournament. Muroe makes it to the 3rd round, where Tama is finally defeated by Rin, and Muroe is pushed out of the tournament. Meanwhile, Toyama and Iwasa, two former members of the kendo club, are caught fighting in a video game arcade and destroying two machines.
23	"Lie and Silence" "Osu to Chinmoku" (嘘と沈黙)	March 12, 2008
The principal of the school tells Kōjiro that the kendo club will be disbanded because of club members engaging in suspicious or risky activities--specifically, Toyama and Iwasa, who, ironically, have stopped attending kendo club but have not turned in any resignation forms. Kirino and Sayako are distraught when Kōjiro reveals the news to them, and they protest the principal's decision, calling it unfair. Meanwhile, Miyako has an emotional breakdown over her failure in the competition and, surprisingly, refuses Danjūrō's comfort. Tamaki, also unhappy over losing the competition, quits the kendo club, much to Kirino's dismay.
24	"Sword and Way" "Ken to Michi" (剣と道)	March 19, 2008
Kirino attempts and fails to prevent Tamaki from resigning from the kendo club, the latter already having decided to give up. Neither she nor Miyako decide to attend kendo club, and nobody knows Miyako's whereabouts. Eventually even Kirino decides not to attend, and the only members left are Satori, Yūji, Danjūrō, and Sayako. Satori manages to convince Miyako to keep up with kendo, while Sayako dissuades Kirino from quitting kendo. Yūji comforts Tamaki, telling her that losing is not as bad as she thinks, and Tamaki decides to learn jōdan to help improve her kendo skills. Eventually she decides to come back to kendo club, and the members are reunited.
25	"Kendo and The Thing It Brings About" "Kendou to sore ga motarasumono" (剣道とそれがもたらすもの)	March 26, 2008
Muroe High goes to a national kendo competition and meets with many of their former opponents. Miyako, having watched footage of her previous kendo match filmed by Reimi in an effort to improve her kendo skills, manages to beat Carrie Nishikawa, the latter of which calls the former out for a match of their own and is beaten again. Tamaki fights Rin Suzuki again and wins by using the thrust attack. Kōjiro, on the other hand, has emptied out his apartment, and in the last few minutes of the episode is shown getting on Nobu-chan's motorcycle and going to a different place--presumably his new home.
26	""After That" and "After This"" ""Sorekara" to "korekara"" ("それから"と"これから")	April 2, 2008
It is a new year and several months have passed since the National competition. Two freshmen show up to join the club. The members one by one appear trying to convince them to join the club only to perform sideshow tricks leaving the freshmen unimpressed. The club later have a sparring match which causes the freshmen to become enthusiastic about joining the club. Its later revealed that these two new members are the siblings of the previous members that quit. Kojiro returns back to school having settled the problem with the old lady that forced him to leave. At the very end of the episode Tama-chan encounters a long purple haired woman with blue eyes, hinting that Bamboo Blade may have another season to come.

[edit] References

[edit] 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)
• Bamboo Blade (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia