Line #91 Anime/Grenadier


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10	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1782x2700sr.jpg]]
11
12	->''"The ultimate battle strategy: To avoid battle by removing an enemy's will to fight."''
13	-->-- '''Empress Tenshi'''
14
15	''Grenadier'' is a manga series written and illustrated by Sōsuke Kaise, which ran in ''Monthly Shonen Ace'' from 2003 to 2006. It received an anime adaptation in 2004, produced by Creator/StudioLive and Creator/GroupTAC and directed by Hiroshi Kojina.
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17	Based in an alternate version of Japan's civil war period, this is the story of the travels of Rushuna Tendo, a buxom young woman possessing astonishing skill with a revolver. Known as a senshi, or firearms expert, Rushuna is on a personal journey to bring peace to the land. Uncomfortably aware that shooting people is not the best way to accomplish this, Rushuna is struggling to master the peaceful teachings of the Empress Tenshi. Accompanying her is Yajiro Kojima a.k.a. Yatchan, a skilled samurai who has grown weary of battle and sees value in Rushuna's goals. Also along for the ride is Mikan Kurenai, an orphaned balloon artist who has painful memories of her own to deal with.
18
19	Learning that there is a price on her head, Rushuna journeys back to the Capital to clear her name. Pursued and watched by a mysterious man in a clown mask, Rushuna must battle the Juttensen or Ten Heavenly Enlightened one by one, each armed with strange and deadly weapons. She gains allies as she travels, beating her enemies with her skills and winning them over with her purity, trying to learn more about the mysterious Jester and to understand the Empress' strange actions.
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21	The original manga version has a plot far differing from that of the anime adaptation, with Rushuna trying to find her homeland, editing the backstories of some of the major characters (including turning her evil counterpart into an adoptive sister, and the Iron-Masked Baron into a nutjob capable of making Hitler look sane), and turning the world they live in into a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic scenario]], except it's been so long after it that the [[LostTechnology ancient super weapons]] are buried deep and the world is somewhat flourishing.
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23	----
24	!!This series provides examples of:
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26	* AbsurdlySharpBlade: In the manga, Yajiro's katana can [[spoiler: cut a giant cannon, with the helpful push of [[ImprobableAimingSkills 12 well-placed bullets]] from Rushuna.]]
27	%%* ActionGirl: Rushuna.
28	* AdaptationExpansion: In the manga, Yajiro is already teamed up with Rushuna. In the anime, Yajiro is introduced fleeing from Nago's allies and encounters Rushuna for the first time while the latter's bathing in the hot springs.
29	* AlternateCharacterReading: Used as a subtle {{Foreshadowing}} of the manga's AfterTheEnd setting. Also used in the anime, where the katakana representing the alternate reading flash for a brief moment onscreen before showing the kanji.
30	* AlternateHistory: Giving us a new version of Japan's civil war period.
31	** Averted in the manga, which is strongly implied to be AfterTheEnd.
32	* AnimeThemeSong: Since it aired on two different networks, there are two theme songs.
33	* BadBoss: The Warrior Aristocrats repeatedly hire foreign adversaries for their technology then dispose of them once [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness they exhaust their usefulness]]
34	* BaitAndSwitch: When the Juttensen found out that Touka is still alive it seems that we are about to see a tearful and joyous realization only for them to swear bloody revenge for all the hell she put them through [[TrainingFromHell hellish training.]]
35	* BarbieDollAnatomy: Although Rushuna is rarely ''completely'' naked, there are situations where you'd think that at least her nipples would be exposed...
36	* BearsAreBadNews: Part of [[spoiler:[[strike:Setsuna]]Namari's HeroicSacrifice]] in the manga.
37	%%* BigEater: Rushuna
38	%%* BizarreAndImprobableBallistics
39	* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: This is Rushuna's primary method of disabling opponents, leaving them moaning and clutching their wounded hands. Of note is a time where she blasts out the axle of a gatling gun.
40	* BodyDouble: Tenshi has one. [[spoiler:Who has taken the real Tenshi prisoner and is ruling the Empire in her place.]] Rushuna had at one point been a candidate for the position.
41	* BottomlessMagazines:
42	** {{Mooks}} with assault rifles can fire them on fully automatic for several seconds at a time without having to reload.
43	** Averted ''in principle'' for Rushuna, who can only fire six shots at a time without having to do her signature reload from the store in her seemingly bottomless cleavage. In one episode, even her cleavage runs out! And at the end of the last episode it is shown just how many rounds her cleavage can carry as they are spilled out in a staggering shower of bullets. That said, she also fires her six-chamber gun seven times without reloading ''twice'' in the very first episode.
44	* BrattyHalfPint: Mikan has her moments of this.
45	* BrokeEpisode: Rushuna and Yajiro have to resort to street performances in order to get money in one episode.
46	* BulletTime: Done completely in animation any time the action is too fast to humanly follow, such as when Rushuna creates a bullet cascade or stacks a half dozen bullets.
47	* CallingYourAttacks: Nearly every episode someone will do this, complete with full-screen titles.
48	* CantBatheWithoutAWeapon: Rushuna Tendō does this in the TitleSequence and in one episode, [[BathtubScene she's bathing]] and [[DeadlyBath is attacked]], but she has her gun where she can [[ClothFu snag it with a towel]] that's at hand.
49	* CastingGag: As with ''Manga/OnePiece'', Creator/KazuyaNakai voices a badass swordsman in the form of Yajiro Kojima.
50	* CharacterDevelopment: It's amazing how much exploring of each character is fit into twelve episodes without steering away from the plot.
51	%%* ChildProdigy: Mikan.
52	%%* ChivalrousPervert: Teppa
53	* CombatParkour: Rushuna Tendo uses this to dodge attacks with cartwheels and back flips.
54	%%* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Rushuna.
55	* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Rushina's a blonde with gold eyes.
56	* DarkerAndEdgier: The ecchi content of the anime; is a tad more explicit, however the manga contains more violence by quality and quantity (e.g. [[spoiler: [[SparedByTheAdaptation Koto was killed by the clown in manga, in the anime; she survived]]]] and the soldiers killed by the bizarre RazorWind wielding "monster" ([[spoiler:King Furo in disguise]]) were shown with less detail in the anime;).
57	* DistractedByTheSexy: Improbably, one of Yajirou's enemies in the first episode manages to avert this, holding a civil conversation with a naked Rushuna and then walking away without so much as a perverted glance.
58	%%* TheDitz: Rushuna has her moments of this.
59	%%* DoesntLikeGuns: Yajiro.
60	* DoubleEntendre: Removing the enemies' armor. Some of those enemies would probably prefer that, in place of being shot in the hand.
61	%%* DramaticHighPerching: While the Jester can stand on air, he favors high vantage points such as tree tops and cliffs.
62	* DramaticWind: With Mikan's forgiveness, Rushuna's skirt is blown in the wind.
63	* EveryoneLovesBlondes: Yajiro for Rushuna.
64	* EvilCounterpart: [[spoiler: Setsuna the Tenshi impersonator.]] This is reflected quite well visually, with her outfit, hair, and skin being stark contrasts to Rushuna's brighter colors.
65	* FanService: One of the figurines actually came with two different detachable bosoms.
66	* FirearmsAreCowardly: The sword-wielding Rōnin Yajiro initially stands by this trope. He believes that gun users are cowards, since they do not personally feel the weight of the lives they take with their weapons, like he and his fellow swordsmen do. Traveling with Rushuna, a master gunslinger, slowly changes his mind, however.
67	%%* FiringInTheAirALot: Win a weekend at the Peach Blossom Tower!
68	* FuroScene: Rushuna is constantly searching for her next hot bath.
69	* FullFrontalAssault: The second half of the second episode, by Rushuna.
70	%%* GatlingGood: Coupled with ArmCannon.
71	* GeckoEnding: The anime and manga deviate quite a bit after the appearance of Suirou and Teppa.
72	* GodivaHair: Rushuna fashions a ''swimsuit'' out of her hair in one chapter of the manga, when her hydrophobic swimsuit melts.
73	* GorgeousGaijin: Rushuna is implied to be from America, though she travels under a Japanese name. She has golden hair, a colossal bosom and a gentle and generous NiceGirl attitude, and she is a crack shot with firearms.
74	* GunKata: While Rushuna is dodging bullets with improbable poses from the very first episode, Rushuna and Setsuna [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIOxsYDHWGc&feature=g-vrec have a short range duel in episode 12.]]
75	%%* TheGunslinger: Rushuna and [[spoiler: Setsuna]].
76	%%* HappilyMarried: [[spoiler:Rushuna and Yajiro at the end of the manga.]]
77	* HeliumSpeech: Happens after Rushuna has to fight underwater and Mikan passes her one of her compressed air canisters so Rushuna can breathe.
78	%%* HighSpeedMissileDodge
79	* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Touka Kurenai. After retiring, she became a pacifist who works to give both refuge to the victims of banditry and redemption to bandits who choose to reform themselves, as well as a provide a neutral zone where warriors can seek peaceful (and pleasurable) sanctuary from their violent lifestyle.
80	%%* HotSpringsEpisode: Seen in the closing credits.
81	* HyperspaceArsenal:
82	** Mikan manages to produce an inflatable boat, costumes, a glider, even fully colored doubles of herself on demand. And her 50 gallons of water balloons vanishes without a trace. Apparently Mikan is carrying an inflatable portable hole!
83	** In a less serious example, Setsuna. Where in hell does she keep that chest when [[spoiler: dressed as Tenshi]]?
84	* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: The senshi are often armed with ''machine guns,'' yet hardly ever seem to hit anything.
85	* ImprobableAimingSkills: Rushuna is the queen of this, and is often considered to be [[Manga/{{Trigun}}Vash The Stampede's]] DistaffCounterpart because of it.
86	* ImprobableWeaponUser: Basically every member of the Elite Imperial Guard. Aizen Teppa uses a special, nigh-invincible cloth, another uses sound, and the Jester uses what appears to be [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]], but is actually soul-powered blasts of focused air that can punch through anything.
87	* InASingleBound: Rushuna can pull this off, but so can others.
88	* KarmaHoudini: After orchestrating the deaths of countless innocents and attempting to conquer the world, Setsuna ... goes for an ocean cruise.
89	%%* LovableSexManiac: Teppa.
90	%%* LuminescentBlush: Kasumi gets the hots for Teppa.
91	%%* MagicBullets: Every blessed one of them.
92	* MarshmallowHell: Done humorously, but also practically and for emotional effect as well. Rushuna hides Yajiro from enemy troops in a hot spring with it, but also uses it on a couple of her defeated enemies in a form of the CooldownHug.
93	%%* MaskPower: The Jester.
94	* MsFanservice:
95	** Rushuna. ''Yes.'' If it weren't for Mai Shuranui, she'd be the queen of this.
96	** Also Setsuna.
97	* NeverMyFault: Averted Yajiro went on a journey to make a name for himself, ensuring the safety of his village Sugana gave her life to save Yajiro's own. Yajiro fully blames himself for what happened, it if for this reason that the clan leader Midare Kojima decided to spare his life. If he had played this straight however he would have killed him.
98	* NeverTrustATitle: The series doesn't actually have any scenes where anyone uses a grenade.
99	* ObfuscatingStupidity: Some of Rushuna's more oblivious remarks come off as rather snarky if you assume she's just '''pretending''' to be an idiot.
100	* OddCouple: Straight-headed gun-hater Yajiro with off-beat gunslinger Rushuna.
101	* OnlyAFleshWound: Rushuna shoots dozens of people but never kills anyone.
102	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Yatchan, full name Yajiro Kojima.
103	* ParryingBullets: Yajiro uses his katana to fend off bullets, [[Franchise/StarWars Jedi-style]].
104	* PlayboyBunny: Mikan has an inflatable outfit of this nature, which can somehow keep her warm on a mountaintop in a blizzard. Rushuna ends up wearing a more literal inflatable bunny outfit for the same reason, which gets closer to the standard concept after it gets ripped and deflates.
105	* PowerOfRock: One of the Jutensen-Imperial Guard-uses a specialized instrument to deflect bullets, and can probably liquify your innards with a riff.
106	* RevolversAreJustBetter: The two best marksmen in the show both use revolvers, and Rushuna's is not only a custom job, but also considered very outdated by the standards of the setting.
107	* {{Samurai}}: Yatchan.
108	* ScaryShinyGlasses: Though not very scary, when Aizen Teppa hides his emotions, his lenses go shiny.
109	* SchizoTech: A mecha, machine guns, and missiles, right next to swords and samurai armor.
110	* SeriousBusiness: Rushuna, on hearing a villain refuse her offer of peaceful surrender with no more bloodshed: "Well, in that case; ''You don't get a smile.''"
111	* SheIsAllGrownUp: With the use of balloons, Mikan briefly appears to be older than she is, and even does MarshmallowHell to Yajiro at one point.
112	%%* ShootTheBullet
113	* ShoutOut: to ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf.'' The main characters last name is Tendo and her master is named Soun. She also has the incredible ability to [[AwesomenessByAnalysis copy, learn, and revise other people’s styles after seeing them in action.]]
114	%%* SocialDarwinist: The Jester.
115	%%* SoftWater
116	%%* SparedByTheAdaptation: Koto-chan.
117	* SpinToDeflectStuff: Rushuna's method of dodging bullets tends to involve a lot of spinning. In fact, it seems as though simply spinning in place can cause bullets to miraculously change their paths.
118	* SuperNotDrowningSkills: Rushuna vs. Suirou.
119	%%* TagalongKid: Mikan.
120	%%* TakeMyHand: Yajiro and Fuuka, episode 9.
121	%%* TalkingIsAFreeAction
122	* TalkingIsAFreeAction: It's astonishing how often people will stop and provide commentary on events which must elapse in seconds or less.
123	* TalkingWithSigns: Suirou, one of the Juttensen, communicates underwater at great length with Rushuna, educating her in underwater combat through an extensive series of pre-prepared signs.
124	%%* TeamShot
125	* TechnicalPacifist:
126	** Yatchan believed that only with a sword could you feel the weight of a human life.
127	** In an equivalent example, when Mikan tried to use Rushuna's gun by herself, the trigger pull is apparently very heavy. This is also done to symbolize the weight of a human life that it could take. [[note]]Either that, or Mikan is too young to pull a trigger, or [[FridgeBrilliance Rushuna left the safety on, just in case]][[/note]]. Rushuna also tries to "miss" the vital organs and never goes for a lethal shot.
128	* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: Suirou, the underwater specialist member of the Ten Senshi.
129	* ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself: Yatchan versues the Jester.
130	* TitleDrop: The word "Grenadier" doesn't even come up until the 10th episode, when Rushina is given the title of "Grenadier" for having allegedly slaughtered all the Juttensen that went against her. [[spoiler:In the finale, the title is bestowed on her, but repurposed as "Grenadier: The Smiling Senshi" for her mastery of removing an enemy's will to fight.]]
131	* ToWinWithoutFighting: Rushuna's objective.
132	* TooDumbToLive: The Warrior Aristocrats, their head jealous of the popularity of the Jutensen decided to seek the aid of the Iron Masked Baron their adversary during the great battle of the imperial capital, going so far as to permit him entrance to the Inner Imperial Court. Is it any surprise that they first thing he did was kill them all.
133	* TrainingFromHell: Touka seems to be found of this
134	%%* TwelveEpisodeAnime
135	* UnorthodoxReload: Rushuna loads her gun by ejecting bullets [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/grenadier-unauxreload_9914.gif from her cleavage.]] The most amazing part is that she then fetches them with her open revolver. It apparently was part of her training, since [[spoiler:Setsuna pulls this off as well]].
136	%%* WeirdMoon
137	* WantedPoster: Rushuna faces this twice over the course of the anime (which between them cover three quarters of the entire series). The first time it's a misunderstanding due to the fact that the wanted outlaw [[SuspectIsHatless has a rather vague description that she coincidentally matches (long golden hair)]]. The second time, the posters identify her by name, with a very accurate portrait attached.
138	* WhatMeasureIsAMook: Averted: Anyone Rushuna meets is offered a hug and a smile, and if they try to kill her, she'll stick to her ultimate strategy.
139	%%* WronglyAccused
140	* YouHaveFailedMe: Standard operating procedure for the Jester and part of his master plan.

Context Anime / Grenadier