History YMMV / ToukenRanbu

** The Low-level Sword Training event, a LevelGrinding event where your swords get higher EXP than usual, which makes grinding a lot easier., and has good rewards like golden troops and money. Also, [[RareRandomDrop Nihongou]] is an extremely rare drop in the boss node of the second map. If you are good at messing around with the average level counter of your team (bringing level 40+ swords into E-2 will bloat the average level which won't give any EXP to any of your swords, should the average level is over 40) by adding a Lv 1 sword into the party, you can level up your swords as high as [[UpToEleven Level 60]]. This event has been regarded as the most newbie-friendly event by the fanbase.

** Mikazuki Munechika, full stop. To the point he became the face of the game despite (or maybe even because of) the fact that he's one of the most difficult swords to get due to his high rarity value. Fans, non-fans and even {{Hatedom}}s of ''Touken Ranbu'' tend to like him anytime he appears in an adaptation. He's become widely known as one of the most recognizable sword boys, even stated to be iconic by Digitarou himself. The character's popularity and ascension to official mascot status certainly paid off as he's currently one of the only characters to appear in every adaptation, filling some sort of big role in them, is one of the characters with the most merchandise with more in the making and is the first and currently the ''[[UpToEleven only]]'' character to have an official life sized figure out of the entire cast.[[invoked]]

** Nearly half of all fanfictions for this game on Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn is in Chinese.

** Mikazuki Munechika, full stop. To the point he became the face of the game despite (or maybe even because of) the fact that he's one of the most difficult swords to get due to his high rarity value. Fans, non-fans and even {{Hatedom}}s of ''Touken Ranbu'' tend to like him anytime he appears in an adaptation. He's become widely known as one of the most recognizable sword boys, even stated to be iconic by Digitarou himself. The characters popularity and ascension to official mascot status certainly paid off as he's currently one of the only characters to appear in every adaptation, filling some sort of big role in them, is one of the characters with the most merchandise with more in the making and is the first and currently the ''[[UpToEleven only]]'' character to have an official life sized figure out of the entire cast.[[invoked]]

** [[AmbiguouslyRelated While his connection to them is never explored officially]] outside of Tsurumaru interacting with Mikazuki in the adaptations and Tsurumaru is more often associated with the swords owned by Date Masamune[[note]]Shokudaikiri Mitsutada, Ookurikara, Taikogane Sadamune. The group is referred to as the Dategumi by fans[[/note]], Tsurumaru is sometimes treated as a SixthRanger to the Sanjou sword school due to having been forged by Gojo Tsukinaga, a disciple and son (or grandson) of Sanjo Munechika. Some fans even regard him as Mikazukis grandnephew or grandson.

* ArchivePanic: Gradually becoming this seven years into the franchises lifespan due to how much spin-off material the game is accumulating, particularly for overseas fans of the franchise who may not have access to every release. As explained on the Trivia page, the game has 2 Anime adaptations with movies in the works for each one, several musical and stage play adaptations, over 10 official anthologies, a live action movie and as of 2022 a spin-off Hack-and-Slash game. This is taken UpToEleven when one realizes that beyond the franchises basic premise and characters, the adaptations have little to do with each other, often varying in tone and substance, meaning that it's basically impossible for overseas fans to experience every possible variation of the citadels largely due to NoExportForYou.

** It's a common thing in the Japanese fandom to portray Ishikirimaru as a BigBeautifulMan underneath his robes. It might have to do with how bulky his usual garb is, his MightyGlacier gameplay behavior, and the fact that his damage portrait doesn't actually show much of his body despite the ClothingDamage. His Kiwame art officially [[{{Jossed}} josses]] this, showing that he's actually fairly thin under all his bulky clothing.

* FoeYay: Despite Nansen and [[spoiler:Chougi]] largely being antagonistic towards each other, the fandom likes to pair them up.

* CommonKnowledge: No, not every sword considers swords forged by the same smith or school their brother. It's easy to get the impression that they do thanks to the prominence of some sets of brothers, such as the Toushirou swords or Kunihiro swords, but there are plenty of brothers who are not of the same school/smith (The Genji brothers, the Tachi brothers), as well as swords who are of the same school/smith but do not consider each other brothers (The Gou swords). What makes makes a group of swords brothers varies wildly, and you basically need to rely on WordOfGod to know.

** As explained in CommonKnowledge, not every set of swords from the same school are considered "brothers". Despite this, many fans tend to treat them as such regardless of whether canon specifies otherwise, largely due to the familiar roles of other sword schools in the game.

* CommonKnowledge: No, not every sword considers swords forged by the same smith or school their brother. It's easy to get the impression that they do thanks to the prominence of some sets of brothers, such as the Toushirou swords or Kunihiro swords, but there are plenty of brothers who are not of the same school/smith (The Genji brothers, the Tachi brothers), as well as swords who are of the same school/smith but do not consider each other brothers (The Gou swords, the Sanjou swords). What makes makes a group of swords brothers varies wildly, and you basically need to rely on WordOfGod to know.

* AngstAversion: Kiwame gives all the swords who undergo it CharacterDevelopment, but not all CharacterDevelopment is for the better. Some swords, such as Sayo Samonji, end up in a worse emotional state than before, which makes fans reluctant to send these swords away.

** Although the game is only available in Japanese, this hasn't stopped it from gaining a somewhat big Western fanbase. Hotarumaru is very popular with Western fans.

* FanPreferredCouple:
** The Saniwa is frequently paired with Kiyomitsu because of his issues.
** In the Japanese fandom, Saniwa/Hasebe is quite popular, mainly because of Hasebe's UndyingLoyalty being {{flanderiz|ation}}ed. Saniwa/Kashuu is seen along the same lines, as is Saniwa/Mitsutada.
** Kogitsunemaru/Nakigitsune, helped by the fact that they both have [[AnimalMotifs fox motifs]] and that Nakigitsune apparently has an interest in Kogitsunemaru for that very reason.
** Gotou/Monoyoshi, due to the Recollections skit they have together.
** Mikazuki/Tsurumaru due Tsurumaru being forged by the smith that was a student of Sanjou Munechika; Mikazuki's swordsmith, their [[Main/OppositesAttract contrasting dynamics]] despite being from the same era, and their interactions in the adaptations.

** Ditto ''VideoGame/NamuAmidaButsuUtena'' – try naming one fan of this game who ''hasn't'' played ''[=TouRabu=]''.

* RonTheDeathEater: Monoyoshi Sadamune occasionally gets this treatment, due to one of his previous masters being involved in the fire that burned Ichigo Hitofuri and Namuzou and Honebami Toushirou. They completely ignore the fact that Monoyoshi was only a sword at the time and thus wasn't at fault for what happened back then. At worst, he would've been JustFollowingOrders, but the fandom loves depicting him as some kind of sadist who likes torturing the victims of said incident. He's a rather sweet and cheerful character in game.

** Another DMM game that gets friendly treatment from fans is ''VideoGame/BungouToAlchemist'', for having the same premise of a CastFullOfPrettyBoys restoring their chosen medium to its untouched state (only with authors and literature rather than history).

* ShipSinking: [[spoiler:Kiyomitsu/Yasusada]] is a ''massive'' and lasting ship until canon sinks it in early 2021 when [[spoiler:Kiyomitsu]] is {{ship tease}}d with [[spoiler:Ichimonji Norimune]] instead. Not that this stops the fans.

* DryDocking: Guess how many fans readily accept the official [[spoiler:Kiyomitsu/Norimune]] ShipTease in favor of the long-standing [[spoiler:Kiyomitsu/Yasusada]].

** Announcing two [[Anime/ToukenRanbuHanamaru anime]] [[Anime/KatsugekiToukenRanbu adaptations]] with [[LighterAndSofter different]] [[DarkerAndEdgier tones]] might be a response to fan reactions towards [[MoodWhiplash the wildly inconsistent tone]] of the ''VideoGame/KantaiCollection'' [[Anime/KantaiCollection anime]]. The fact that the Creator/{{Ufotable}} helmed adaptation will be ''directly supervised'' by Nitro+ themselves[[note]] As with other adaptations such as TheMusical and the stage play[[/note]] probably helps.

* CrossoverShip[[labelnote:*]]([[{{Pun}} yeah, yeah)]][[/labelnote]]: With [[VideoGame/KantaiCollection its sister series]].

** [[VideoGame/KantaiCollection Who else?]] It's worth noting that some Saniwa switch between ''Touken Ranbu'' and ''Kantai Collection'' in-between events.

** ''VideoGame/KantaiCollection'' has been accused of historical revisionism, especially in [[Anime/KantaiCollection the anime]]. Here, the enemies ''are'' historical revisionists. However, the accusations became HarsherInHindsight since Touken Ranbu had a similar accusation.

* IncestYayShipping: Any ship that involves Toushirou swords loving eachother. Ichigo/Namazuo ([=IchiNama=]), Ichigo/Yagen ([=IchiYage/IchiYaku=] and Namazuo/Honebami ([=NamaHone/ZuoBami=]) seem to be popular. However, like with ''VideoGame/KantaiCollection'', it isn't clear if the characters are actually blood-related or if being "brothers" is just a figure of speech.

* WinBackTheCrowd: The announcement of the ''Kiwame'' system, ''Tourabu'''s equivalent of the Second Remodel/Kai Ni system from ''VideoGame/KantaiCollection'' system, had players who previously quit ''Tourabu'' due to thinking it SoOkayItsAverage and/or ItsEasySoItSucks return.

* BrokenBase:
** In July 2015, an update changed several characters[[note]]Izuminokami, Ookurikara, and Doudanuki[[/note]] from tachi to uchigatana. Naturally, fans were divided over this change, with some not really minding while others were unhappy, considering the change a big downgrade for the characters; however, their tachi-grade stats weren't {{nerf}}ed, making them a strong uchigatana trio. Especially Izuminokami, who currently holds the position as the ''strongest'' uchigatana.
** How the Revisionists are portrayed in and out of game counts. Some are fine with their monsterous characterization, since it brings more focus on the Saniwa's swords and leaves less room to [[RootingForTheEmpire root for the empire]] like what happened with the Abyssal Fleet in ''VideoGame/KantaiCollection''. Others argue that the Revisionists barely have character ''at all'', and treating them as little more than cannon fodder takes away from exploring how the factions operate and the possible implications of how they came to be (See {{Fanon}} below).
** The announcement of the two anime adaptations had mixed reactions. Some people fear that the adaptations will not be very good (especially considering the low opinions many fans have of the ''VideoGame/KantaiCollection'' [[Anime/KantaiCollection anime]]), while others are happy about the prospect of their favorite swords getting animated. Another reason why a part of the fandom (mostly overseas fans) are against the adaptations is because they fear how the [[NewbieBoom new]] ''Touken Ranbu'' fans will be. It was notable how they held the popularity of the franchise back, however, with two upcoming anime, chances are pretty high the bigger mass will discover ''Touken Ranbu''.
** Related to above, will the [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen Saniwa]] (and by extension, what will the Saniwa's ''gender'' will be) appear in the anime or not has sparked debates, similar to the adaptation of ''VideoGame/KantaiCollection''. While the saniwa of ''Anime/ToukenRanbuHanamaru'' sparked some debate over whether or not they should have been depicted in full or just have another sword take the role (amusingly, similar to ''[=KanColle=]'''s own adaptation), Ufotable's version for ''Anime/KatsugekiToukenRanbu'' ended up in some wondering why the saniwa wasn't depicted as off screen like the ''Hanamaru'' one, why they looked like a little boy, and whether the decision to go for an androgynous look and not confirm either way instead of featuring the more popular interpretations of the character was an example of [[PanderingToTheBase pandering]], chickening out, a good idea, or something else entirely.
** While Kiwame has been well-received by most players as a way to upgrade the [[ComMons weak tantous]] to be useful on later maps, some are concerned by the changes in their lines that focus more on that Saniwa's attention and less on their own character tics. In a particular case, many fans of Imanotsurugi are reluctant to give him the Kiwame upgrade because [[TomatoInTheMirror it retcons a huge part of his character, and tragically so]].
** In the Western fanbase, there are quite a few vocal fans that openly question the morality of shipping the younger looking toudan, particularly the tantou, with the swords that are clearly intended to be adults, believing it to be disgusting despite the actual ages of the swords who in reality are well over centuries old; some of the younger looking sword boys are [[OlderThanTheyLook older than the characters that look like adults]]. There are fans that argue back that the age they appear to be is irrelevant due to the reasoning mentioned. The JP fanbase generally doesn't make a [[ValuesDissonance big deal]] out of this but that doesn't stop the debates from coming up.
** Now that the first seasons of the Anime adaptations have concluded, which one was superior? ''Anime/ToukenRanbuHanamaru'' or ''Anime/KatsugekiToukenRanbu''? In Japan, it's made abundantly clear that Fans tend to prefer ''Hanamaru's'' adaptation over ''Katsugeki''[[note]]and the dvd/bluray sales only hammer this home[[/note]] but in the west it's more divided.
*** Some say ''Katsugeki'' was better because it supposedly had more of a plot, "relevant" character arcs, played up the oft-forgotten "protecting history" angle, and to some felt more like a ''Touken Ranbu'' anime in adapting the more dramatic aspects of the swords' backstories[[note]] mainly only with the two leads Izuminokami and Mutsunokami, plus tritagonist Horikawa; the rest of the squad, despite being a part of the main cast, did not really get much development or arc focus [[/note]] and decry ''Hanamaru'' as "[[PanderingToTheBase the]] Website/{{Pixiv}} [[PanderingToTheBase version]]" that makes the series look no different than any other SliceOfLife series, and overexaggerates the characters and their arcs to match with fan perceptions (leading to events like [[spoiler:Yamatonokami's controversial desicion to stop Okita from getting injured at the Ikeda-ya]]). Some also feel like the series crams too many characters in to make sure nobody feels left out, at the expense of the main pair's arc and development, up until the end.
*** However, others argue that ''Katsugeki'' was a soulless bore of an adaptation whose only saving grace was it being [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome visually impressive]], and that it didn't live up to what it promised/was hyped up to be. In comparison, fans of ''Hanamaru'' say that this series felt like it was made for the fans, fun to watch, took an EnsembleCast approach thus giving all fans more time to see their faves instead of staying focused on one (and to a '''VERY LESSER''' degree, two) sword group and was supposedly more faithful to the game and characterization; whereas ''Katsugeki'' took various liberties, particularly with their citadel's lore (the multiple Konnosukes in one citadel and being able to only send two swords at a time back in history at one point, in particular) and characterization/dynamics. People who prefer ''Hanamaru'' often refer to ''Katsugeki'' as a "''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' with a ''Touken Ranbu'' skin" anime and various other snarky nicknames involving that franchise due to their similarities in animation and other things Creator/{{ufotable}} lifted from their previous ''Fate'' adaptations.
*** There are some fans who say they like both adaptations but lean more towards one, and those who say that '''both''' adaptations sucked or didn't like the heavy Shinsengumi focus on both series' leads (two Okita swords in ''Hanamaru'', two Hijikata swords in ''Katsugeki'') and their commonality of [[spoiler:attempting to prevent their masters' most famous historical injuries]]. Some other fans [[TakeAThirdOption tend to prefer]] the Stage play, {{Musical}} and {{Manga}} adaptations over both, while others just prefer the original game and fan created content.
*** Lastly, there are fans who whole heartily liked both adaptations or felt that both adaptations fulfilled their purpose of what they were adapted to be like with ''Hanamaru'' being the SliceOfLife anime it was promised to be and ''Katsugeki'' being the action oriented other half.