- For complete list of item and descriptions, see Items.
- For an explanation of the sword types, see Sword Types.
- For an explanation of the troops, see Armory.
- For an explanation on the stats and what they mean, see Combat Mechanism.
World View1[]
2205AD. Time criminals who proclaim themselves as "Historical Revisionists" (歴史修正主義者) with the aim to correct the rightful history, form the "History Retrograding Force" (時間遡行軍) and repeatedly go back in time to stage attacks upon Japan's history.
To take down the History Retrograding Force, the Government of the Time (時の政府) sends out those known as Saniwa to protect all history. Nevertheless, there is no point in just defeating the History Retrograding Force if history is disturbed as well. Therefore, only the smallest of troops are sent to protect history and the methods of sending are strictly restricted.
The opposing History Retrograding Force brings in unlimited troops from the future and sends them to the past. It is said that there are 840,000,000 of them. The numbers far surpass all the humans born on the eight Japanese Isles.
While it seems clear as to whom will be victorious, the Government of the Time has one trump card up its sleeve; and that is the skill of the ones known as Saniwa: the ability to manifest the hearts of objects; to awaken the thoughts and heart of sleeping items and grant them the power to fight on their own and to wield themselves.
The ones known as Saniwa are sent to the past in order to protect history together with the strongest tsukumogami, the Touken Danshi, who are born from the swords that are the crystallisation of ancient spirits and techniques.
Basic Terminology[]
- Tourabu (とうらぶ) - Abbreviation of Touken Ranbu. (Also literally means "sword love")
- Touken Danshi (刀剣男士, lit. "sword men") - Touken (刀剣) refers to nihontou (Japanese-style single-edged curved blades) and tsurugi/ken, which are an older style of double-edged swords smithed in China and brought to Japan before the Heian period. Danshi (男士) means 'men', but is pronounced the same as 男子, which means 'boys'. Taking both of these parts into account, touken danshi can be interpreted to mean any kind of male sword.
- Gods of swords created from ancient spirit and techniques that are given human form. Since they are gods, saniwas who are of a lower form are beings that are beneath them. However at the same time, the saniwas are the masters of the swords. To the touken danshi, compared to their own ranking, the ones who own their blades are more important. Hence, they call the saniwa 'Master'.
- Toudan (刀男) - Abbreviation of Touken Danshi.
- Saniwa (審神者) - Refers to us players, who have traveled to the past to change history. Saniwa can be loosely translated as simply "sage". In the Shinto religion, saniwa are specialized priests/folklorists tasked with identifying the gods. More details can be found here.
- They are the ones with the ability to manifest the hearts of objects and the master who commands the touken danshi.
- Kudagitsune (クダギツネ) - A type of fox spirit employed by sorcerers for possession, divination and other supernatural uses. In Touken Ranbu they provide intelligence from the Time Government to the saniwa, and also help out like assistants around the citadel. Konnosuke, Kuronosuke, Momonosuke, Mamenosuke, and Kyuunosuke are so far the only major kudagitsune in the franchise.
- Historical Revisionists (歴史修正主義者) - the ones who lead the History Retrograding Force to interfere with history with the goal of changing it.
- Time Retrograding Force (時間遡行軍) - the main enemies in the game. Consists of the same types of swords as the touken danshi with varying strengths and weaknesses.
- Secretary (近侍) - Refers to the commander of the first unit. Also stands in the inner citadel when you are not doing anything. In battle, he receives 1.5x experience points (3x if he gets MVP).
- Inner Citadel (本丸) - This is the main screen. Your secretary will appear in the middle, and if you wait a long time or click on him, he will speak. You can buy new backgrounds for your citadel using koban (小判).
Statuses and Events[]
- Sakura Fubuki (桜吹雪) - Refers to a state when a sword is in high spirits, with low Fatigue levels. His status will show sakura petals flying in the foreground (sakura fubuki means something like cherry blossom tempest when a lot of petals are scattering the wind). In addition, this status will increase battle capabilities, such as speed, by a moderate amount. See Fatigue for more information about achieving Sakura Fubuki.
- MVP (誉) - The MVP badge is given to one sword each battle, usually the one who deals the most damage. In the exp screen, a 誉 badge will appear by him and he will receive double experience points. In addition, he will say a line and his battle sprite will appear on the screen before you move on to the next battle.
- Ikkiuchi (一騎打ち) - An in-battle event or Duel that has a chance of being triggered when your swords are pushed into a disadvantageous attack formation. When this happens, the captains of the teams will face off and have a decisive battle that could turn the tide of the battle. However, if you lose the ikkiuchi, it does not necessarily mean that the whole battle is lost. See Combat Mechanism for more information about Ikkiuchi.
- Ubu no Sugata (初の姿) - Refers to the initial form of a Touken Danshi when he first manifested, before the Kiwame state. The term literally means "untrained form".
- Toku (特) - An upgrade that occurs automatically when a sword reaches a certain level. See Upgrades.
The term literally means "special". - Kiwame (極) - A further upgraded state that requires materials, an eligible sword, and 96 hours of training. See Upgrades.
The term literally means "extreme".
Dice[]
- The characters on the dice are the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac. Each animal represents a number on an ancient type of Japanese clock known as a Wadokei 和時計.
- Starting from 12 o'clock and going clockwise, the directions correspond to the order of zodiac animals: 子, 丑, 寅, 卯, 辰, 巳, 午, 未, 申, 酉, 戌, 亥.
Daytime Hours | Nighttime Hours |
---|---|
Rabbit 卯 | Rooster 酉 |
Dragon 辰 | Dog 戌 |
Snake 巳 | Pig 亥 |
Horse 午 | Rat 子 |
Goat 未 | Ox 丑 |
Monkey 申 | Tiger 寅 |
↑ 1: Taken directly from the Touken Ranbu Official Illustration Book, page 202.