Follow TV Tropes

Following

Anime / Sword for Truth

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/155691_0sword_large.jpg

Sword for Truth is a 1990 OVA about a swordsman named Shuranosuke Sakaki, who aids the Nakura clan by saving Princess Mayu from the Seki ninja.

It has nothing to do with Sword of Truth.


Tropes found in this anime:

  • Amazon Brigade: The kunoichi in red ninja clothes.
  • Defeat by Modesty: Early in the OVA a female pickpocket named Oren tries to rob Shuranosuke on a crowded city street. He puts a stop to it by slicing open her robe with his sword, leaving her to stand mortified in the middle of the road as her ruined clothes fall to the ground and expose her breasts for all of the onlookers to see.
  • Escaped Animal Rampage: The show begins with a giant tiger escaping from its cage and slaughtering a large number of the Shogun's men before being cut down in one stroke by protagonist Shuranosuke Sakaki.
  • Establishing Character Moment: Shuranosuke. This guy kills a tiger with one blow in his introduction scene.
  • Half the Man He Used to Be: One of the most common if not the most common fatalities people can suffer in the "Sword for Truth" verse. The only other method of death that even comes close in number are decapitations which are about as frequently inflicted on the Red Shirts as bisections. Shuranosuke even kills a giant rampaging tiger by cutting in half this way right at the very beginning of the OVA!
  • Meaningful Name: Shura means carnage. No guesses for what Shuranosuke is the master of.
  • Off with His Head!: Happens constantly. If some poor hapless Mook isn't getting completely bisected in a fight you can bet he's getting his head lopped off instead. Soldiers, ninja and even a freaking horse all get decapitated at one point or another.
  • Purple Is Powerful: Definitely in full effect here. The main protagonist is a ronin mercenary named Shuranosuke who wears a purple robe and cuts through armies of deadly ninja and even other samurai like butter. His introduction even has him effortlessly cut down a giant rampaging tiger in a single blow that splits the beast clean in half!
  • Samurai in Ninja Town: The lead character is a wandering samurai called Shuranosuke and his main foe for most of the OVA is a clan of ninjas that kidnapped a local princess to ransom for a valuable sword. He also fights a few other samurai as well, but most of his enemies are ninja warriors from the Seki clan.
  • The Four Gods: The white tiger in the beginning is said to be Byakko's incarnation.
  • Would Hurt a Child: The Seki ninja, to show how truly vile and sadistic they are, murder an entire innocent family... including their young son. Even Shuranosuke (who's own body count seems to increase by about a dozen or so per day) is disgusted by them. In fact, the moment when he calls them out on this is one of the few times in the OVA where he seems genuinely angry.
    Shuranosuke: Why did you kill the boat keeper and his family?
    Seki Mook: Why? Because nobody gets to see the Seki ninja and live, no other reason. They just got unlucky, that's all.
    Shuranosuke: Why did you have to kill the boy?
    Shuranosuke: Your time is up, vermin. [proceeds to massacre the ninja responsible]
  • You Are Already Dead: Done to an absolutely ridiculous extent. One particularly audacious example is Shuranosuke's duel with Gunbei, where the later is able to speak for several seconds after having his neck sliced through, even though his vocal cords should be well beyond shredded at that point.
    Shuranosuke: The Silent Blow - Phantom! [swoosh]
    Gunbei: Now my lord knows. It was you.
    Shuranosuke: Your lord knows what? He knows I did what?
    Gunbei: Eurrur... [head slides off amid a violent blood geyser]


Top