Here are the characters of Bamboo Blade.
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Muroe High School
Toraji Ishida ("Kojiro")
Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (JP), Ian Sinclair (EN)
Kojiro is the kendo instructor as well a teacher of politics and economics at Muroe High School. In his youth, he was a member of the kendo club. He takes up an offer by fellow kendoka Kenzaburo Ishibashi to have Kojiro's kendo team defeat Kenzaburo's own in exchange for a year's supply of sushi.
- But Now I Must Go: Though Kojirou eventually gets to keep his job, he decides to quit at the end of the year anyway after realizing he's taught the Muroe kendo team everything he can.
- Mentor Archetype: He teaches the kendo class over at Muroe High School.
- Named After Somebody Famous: He's named after kendo practitioner Toshiya Ishida.
- Took a Level in Badass: In preparation for his match against Ishibashi, Kojirou gets back to training and manages to regain enough of his prior kendo skills to effortlessly beat him.
Tamaki Kawazoe
Voiced by: Ryō Hirohashi (JP), Cherami Leigh (EN)
The star member of Muroe's kendo team, hand-picked by Kojiro and Kirino to help them turn their fortunes around.
- Achilles' Heel: The "High Stance," as it was a stance her mother used and whenever she sees it, she envisions her mother and loses focus, this resulted in her first loss in the series. She gets over it by the end of the anime, as she discovers, no matter who she's fighting, even her mother, she wants to win.
- Affectionate Nickname: Is called "Tama-chan" by her friends in the sub and "Tama" by Kojiro in the sub, everyone calls her "Tama" in the dub.
- Badass Adorable: She's adorable and she can kick ass when she needs to.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Tamaki may be a nice person, but you don't want her after you. Just ask Toyama.
- Boyish Short Hair: Tamaki cuts her hair short.
- Childhood Friends: Has known Yuji since she was a child.
- Curtains Match the Window: Purple hair and eyes.
- Cute Bruiser: Don't let her cuteness fool you, she is the strongest member of the kendo team.
- Cuteness Proximity: Invokes this in Kirino and Saya.
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: In a well-remembered instance, a quietly enraged Tama unleashes a tsuki (throat thrust) against Konishi, which got her disqualified on the spot. This is accurate, as the throat strike is frequently banned in kendo due to the danger it poses and the skill it takes to pull it off safely. Thus, in many competitions only kendoka of a certain rank and above may attempt it.
- Even the Girls Want Her: Kirino and Saya gush over her and constantly say she's "cute."
- Fangirl: She is a fan of Blade Braver.
- Hero Protagonist: She is the main protagonist of the series and a brave heroine.
- He's Not My Boyfriend: A very subtle example, she once tells her dad that Yuji invited her to an amusement park and her dad thought it was a date, Tama responds by saying they're just friends. (Her father still thinks that there's something between them.)
- The Leader: She is the team's leader during competitions.
- Missing Mom: Her mother died when she was very young.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Rin's blue.
- Rookie Red Ranger: When she joined the pre-existing kendo team, Kojiro literally assigned her as "Red" and gives her the commander position.
- Skilled, but Naive: Despite being a prodigy in kendo, she is pretty naive in other situations.
- Strong Family Resemblance: She greatly resembles her mother.
- You Are in Command Now: After joining the kendo team, Tamaki replaces Kirino as its captain.
Kirino Chiba
Voiced by: Megumi Toyoguchi (JP), Luci Christian (EN)
The energetic captain of Muroe High's kendo team.
- Cool Big Sis: Has been described to be like an older sister to the rest of the members of the club.
- Ditzy Genius: Despite being a ditz, she ranked 20th in her year at school.
- Genki Girl: She's a very excitable girl.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She has blonde hair and is a friendly girl.
- Kendo Team Captain: She is the captain of Muroe High's team.
- The Lancer: Kirino serves as Tamaki's second in command during competitions.
- Quickly-Demoted Leader: She's the actual captain of the Muroe kendo team, but when star player Tamaki joins, Kojiro assigns Kirano as the "Yellow" ranger. Luckily, Kirano's cool with it.
- Tomboyish Ponytail: She wears her hair in a ponytail.
Miyako Miyazaki ("Miya-miya")
Voiced by: Houko Kuwashima (JP), Leah Clark (EN)
A relative newbie to the kendo team. Has great power, but lacks discipline compared to the other girls.
- Alliterative Name: Miyako Miyazaki.
- Battle Cry: She unleashes one of hell of a scream before her second match with Carrie.
- Bishie Sparkle: Before she goes in Yandere mode.
- Blood Knight: Joined the Kendo club because she discovered that she likes hurting people and it gives her a socially acceptable outlet for those feelings.
- Can't Catch Up: Mainly because she was the last to join the team, and has lost every match she was in all the way until the point the anime ends.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: This happened to her TWICE against her matches with Carrie. The first time, however, was rather justified, seeing Miya was going against Carrie when Carrie was duel-wielding and is much stronger than her. The second time was a lesser example, seeing that Miya does improve, but only to lose again.
- Delinquent: The original manga makes it abundantly clear from the start and keeps it one of Miya Miyas defining character traits throughout. She is frequently seen smoking (in fact, her entire first plotline revolves around her attempting to avoid Saya since the latter caught her smoking in school), ditches school often and has a far more stereotypical "girl gangsta" behavior. The anime version, on the other hand, makes her delinquency vastly underpronounced to the point that some viewers might not even realize the character was supposed to be one and wonder if she just has some serious self-control issues.
- Girly Bruiser: She is a friendly girl who can kick major ass when she needs to.
- Iron Butt Monkey: The plot seems to exist to make her suffer as much humiliation as possible.
- Repetitive Name: Miyako Miyazaki, which is lampshaded with her being nicknamed "Miya-miya".
- Tap on the Head: Her strikes often includes tapping her opponent on the head.
- Took a Level in Badass: By the Nationals she not only won a few matches but has grown to larn to rely on actual skill rather than brute strength and unrestrained aggression.
- Unskilled, but Strong: She has great speed and power, but only resorts to head strikes. She does, however, pull off a throat strike during a sparring match with Saya and nearly knocks her out.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Seen as the most beautiful of the Muroe kendokas. Lampshaded in that many people outside the club wonders why she can fall for a shrimp.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: Was ready to beat down the upperclassmen who assaulted Danjiro. The only reason she didn't was because Saya crashed into her on her bike.
- Yandere: To her boyfriend Danjiro in the Violently Protective Girlfriend sense.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Oh, BOY...Her first match with Carrie was pretty much a Curb-Stomp Battle, but Miya tries to pull off a throat strike on Carrie, it leaves Carrie for a body strike that Miya goes for...until Miya is then struck with a head strike. The second match against Carrie has Miya showing some improvement, only for her to lose again. The biggest example would be her match against one of Konishi's teammate and loses the first round due to being distracted by Reimi, leaving herself open for a head strike.. Before the second round, Miya practically unleashes a pink aura and is ready to kick some ass...only for the events of the first round to repeat.
Sayako Kuwahara
Voiced by: Sachiko Kojima (JP), Brina Palencia (EN)
- The Big Girl: She's the tallest member of the kendo team.
- Fleeting Passionate Hobbies: She will quickly become invested in something and once she sees she's not good at it immediately, she'll quit, Kendo is the only thing she goes back to; and writing.
- Genki Girl: She's full of energy.
- Genius Bruiser: An exceptional writer who can easily beat rival students.
- Huge Schoolgirl: The tallest and physically strongest member of the team, though generally not all that self-conscious about it.
- Rage Quit: She used to do this every session before the events of the series, only to come back the next session.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Before the series, Sayako would leave the kendo club during every single session, but came back during the next session.
- Statuesque Stunner: She stands at 170 cm (5'7" tall).
- Unskilled, but Strong: Somewhat similar to Miyako, when first introduced she has not honed much skill in Kendo, such as not having the basic footwork down, once Tamaki joins the team and gives the girls pointers, Saya steadily gets better throughout the series, so much that she makes it to the quarter finals in the final tournament.
Satori Azuma
Voiced by: Rina Sato (JP), Carrie Savage (EN)
- Badass Bookworm: She's actually really good at Kendo.
- Book Dumb: The reason why she wears glasses.
- The Klutz: She frequently loses her footing and falls to the ground and causes disasters due to her clumsiness.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: Despite being a pretty good Kendoka herself, she doesn't get too many moments to shine, even being eliminated in the first round of the final tournament because she was pitted against Tamaki.
- Purely Aesthetic Glasses: She wears fake glasses because she thinks that they would make her smarter.
Yuji Nakata
Voiced by: Daisuke Sakaguchi (JP), Chris Burnett (EN)
Tamaki's childhood friend.
- Childhood Friends: Has known Tama since they were children.
- Implied Love Interest: One of his most notable traits is the ambiguity of his feelings for Tama, it's never completely expressed if he likes her, if she likes him, or if they're just friends; but there's a lot of subtexts that supports that there's something. In her introductory episode, Azuma seems to have an infatuation with Yuji, but it's never mentioned again.
- Over Shadowed By Awesome: While he seems pretty competent in Kendo and school, he takes a backseat along with Dan-kun since the story focuses more on the girls.
- The One Guy: Pretty much his only role in the series. He gets a little screentime, but it's not much compared to the girls.
Danjiro Eiga
Voiced by: Akira Ishida (JP), Sean Michael Teague (EN)
- The Ace: Played for Laughs. He's a nasally voiced gonk (who's apparently really that deformed in-universe, with one character mentioning he can't ride a bike since his chibi-like body has too short legs) who's shown at first to be whiny and naive... then we repeatedly learn that he has a smoking hot girlfriend who is genuinely and completely in love with him, is an honor roll student (2nd highest average in his entire grade), an incredible artist (to the point his paintings are drawn in a more realistic style than the rest of the manga!), a complete chick magnet who has hot women literally fighting over him, and to top it all off a pretty good kendoka.
- Beware the Nice Ones: His 'black' aura is both better hidden and more subtle than Miya's but just as, if not more, fearsome when unleashed.
- Gonk: Permanently super-deformed with a head that is often compared to an acorn in shape.
- The one time he isn't super-deformed, the manga has to remind the audience that yes, this is Dan.
Akira Toyama
Voiced by: Atsushi Imaruoka (JP), Newton Pittman (EN)
- Absentee Club Member: He and Iwasa are this for the Muroe Kendo Club. They only make a few on-screen appearances and are otherwise completely absent for most of the series. Given that he in particular had bullied most of the previous club members until they quit, nobody really misses them.
Masaru Iwasa
Voiced by: Yuichi Ishigami (JP), Cris George (EN)
- Absentee Club Member: He and Toyama are ghost members of the Muroe Kendo Club. They only make a few on-screen appearances and are otherwise completely absent for most of the series. Given that Toyama in particular had bullied most of the previous club members until they quit, nobody really misses them.
Machido High School
Kenzaburo Ishibashi
Voiced by: Tetsu Inada (JP), Christopher Sabat (EN)
Machido High school and Kamasaki high school's kendo instructor.- Friendly Rival: Holds on to a minor grudge against Kojiro over their high school kendo experiences, but for the most part they're on good terms and socialize regularly.
Konatsu Harada
Voiced by: Kei Shindo (JP), Jad Saxton (EN)
Maya Yokoo
Voiced by: Kiyomi Yazawa (JP), Colleen Clinkenbeard (EN)
Karen Nishiyama
Voiced by: Natsuki Mori (JP), Trina Nishimura (EN)
Akemi Asakawa
Voiced by: Saki Kondo (JP), Kate Oxley (EN)
Seimei High School
Reimi Odajima
Voiced by: Mai Nakahara (JP), Monica Rial (EN)
A first-year student at Seimei High School. She 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.- Nose Bleed: Around Miyamiya.
Mei Ogawa
Voiced by: Kaori Nazuka (JP), Brittney Karbowski (EN)
A first-year student at Seimei High School.- Shrinking Violet: She is a shy person.
Tadaaki Hayashi
Voiced by: Shinji Ogawa (JP), Greg Dulcie (EN)
Seimei High School's kendo instructor.- Stern Teacher: While he isn't openly abusive to his students, he is stern, humorless and reluctant to dole out praise. He's such a harsh taskmaster that a lot of his first years wind up quitting after a single practice.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Hayashi is surprised at how much his team enjoys sparring with the Muroe High Squad, and challenges Kojiro to a match, an action which wins over at least some of his students. He tells Kojiro that he'll work to add more fun to his practice regimen afterwards.
Kamasaki High School
Takeshi Iwahori
A second-year student at Kamasaki High School.- Curb-Stomp Battle: Receives a hard one from Tamaki.
- Kendo Team Captain: The captain of Kamasaki's team.
- Stopped Caring: He stopped putting efforts in kendo after witnessing Rin defeated by Ura.
- Unknown Rival: To Rin after she defeated him in middle school.
Narumi Chikamoto
A second-year student at Kamasaki High School.- Kendo Team Captain: Became the new captain after Takeshi resigned.
Kendo Komachi
Kendo Komachi
◊ (Kendo Beauties) is a gathering of 9 middle to high school age female kendoka from all around the country that was chosen by Okame TV based on their strength and beauty to participate in their tv program 2 years ago.
One of the Kendo Komachi. A second-year student at Touryuu High School in Fukuoka, Kyushu (third-year student at the same school in BBC manga). She was the undefeated Japan junior high national champion for three years in a row, both in single and team competitions. When she was a high school freshman, after she won 15 matches in a row, she inexplicably loses on the third day of the Gyokuryuki tournament and suddenly quit kendo.
A 16-year-old idol, famous for being in commercials and as a co-host on the Hot-Blooded Banish Academy variety show. Before she became an idol under the stage name "Erina Sawamiya", she was a national level kendoka and one of the Kendo Komachi. However, she quit kendo because of her frustration at her inability to beat Ura.
One of the Kendo Komachi. A second-year student at Shuugyoku High School in Saitama, Kanto (third-year student at the same school in BBC manga). Said to be the strongest female high school kendoka in the Kanto region. The main rival to Tamaki in the anime but only known by name in the manga. She refuses to participate in the Banish Academy because she thinks she doesn't have a chance to win against Ura with her current skill.
One of the Kendo Komachi. A third-year student at Rokubun Girls High School in Iwate, Tohoku.
One of the Kendo Komachi. A university student from Hokkaido.
One of the Kendo Komachi. A third-year student at Shuchou Middle School in Nagasaki, Kyushu (first-year student at Yayoikura High School, also in Nagasaki, Kyushu in BBC manga). The current Japan junior high national champion. Refuses to participate in the Banish Academy because she was busy studying for a high school entrance exam. Only known by name in the BB manga.
One of the Kendo Komachi. A third-year middle school student at Gen'ei Academy in Kanagawa, Kanto (first-year high school student at the same academy in BBC manga).
One of the Kendo Komachi. A university student from Shin'etsu region. A self-proclaimed kendo mania.
One of the Kendo Komachi. A first-year student at Santoku High School in Ehime, Shikoku (second-year student at the same school in BBC manga).
◊ (Kendo Beauties) is a gathering of 9 middle to high school age female kendoka from all around the country that was chosen by Okame TV based on their strength and beauty to participate in their tv program 2 years ago.Ura Sakaki
- The Ace: Hailed as the strongest female high school kendoka in the country.
- Actor/Role Confusion: When Black Duran threw away his sword, she took it as a secret message from him that telling her to throw away her sword.
- Killing Intent: Overwhelm and paralyze her opponents by emitting killing intent.
- Last Episode, New Character: Makes a brief appearance at the very end of the anime.
- Loony Fan: Of the actor Junya Takigawa, the idol who plays Black Duran.
- Red Baron: "The Queen".
- Room Full of Crazy: Ura's room, which is covered floor-to-ceiling with pictures of Junya Takigawa.
Umeko Yamada
- Crouching Ditz Hidden Badass: She may be a ditz on the outside, but she is powerful with kendo.
- Daddy's Girl: She loves her father.
- In-Series Nickname: Was known as the "Second Genius" among kendoka because she was able to score a point against Ura.
Rin Suzuki
Voiced by: Maaya Sakamoto (JP), Caitlin Glass (EN)
- Adaptation Expansion: Almost entirely mentioned offscreen in the manga and only appears in a few insignificantt panels. She becomes a close friend of Tamaki on the anime and a couple of filler show them hanging out together.
- Fangirl: Of Shinaider.
- The Rival: To Tamaki in the anime.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Tama's red.
Touko Ishizuka
- Crushing Handshake: Receives a painful one courtesy of Shouko.
- Kendo Team Captain: She is the captain of the Kendo Komachi.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Her win against Tama in the training session of Banish Academy, all we got is Kirino reminiscing about it.
- Wrestler in All of Us: Delivers a beating to a panty thief with shining wizard, giant swing and knee drop combo.
Miruka Nakamura
- The Berserker: The way she fights, so much that she scares her first crush in high school.
Kaguya Saimura
- Big Sister Instinct: To her younger brother, Yo.
- Gamer Chick: The national champions of the game Mononofu Blade.
- In-Series Nickname: "The Second Ura", "Monster".
- Lightning Bruiser: The fastest girl in the whole series.
- Never Bareheaded: Almost never seen without her crescent moon hair ornament, she even attach it in her head protector.
Suiren Yaginuma
- The Fighting Narcissist: A positive one. Somewhat vain and obsessed with her own beauty, yet a genuinely skilled kendoka and a graceful loser. Defeating her is much more likely to convince her that she's still lacking in "beauty" and make her more determined to improve herself.
- Passionate Sports Girl: She dedicate herself to pursue true beauty through the mastery of kendo.
Kou Murayama
- '80s Hair: She has long hair.
Nanako Fukunokami
- Friendly Rivalry: With Sami, her childhood friend.
- Performance Anxiety: Inverted. Average in training matches but performs better and more focused in competitive matches.
Other Characters
Carrie Nishikawa
Voiced by: Sanae Kobayashi (JP), Jamie Marchi (EN)
- Arrogant Kendo Girl: Her first meeting with Miyako in Episode 19 led to a battle in which the loser takes home out Danjiro. She wins but Danjiro, of course, stays by Miya's side. The two seemed to be on amicable terms after that as well as Episode 21. However, in 22, Carrie holds nothing back in pointing out Miyako's incompetence and mocks her about it, even after scoring a point in their match. And even when Miyako finally defeats her in the final episode, she still carries some arrogance.
- Canon Foreigner: The character was specifically created for the anime adaptation.
- Dual Wielding: Outside of tournaments, and the only character in the anime with this ability.
- Friendly Rivalry: Implied in the credits of the final episode after Miyako finally defeats her.
- Gratuitous English: Being an American, she speaks English when she is excited.
- Jerkass: She is a cruel, untrustworthy and callous bitch.
- I Am Not Left-Handed: In a way. In her second fight against Miyako, Yuji immediately realized that despite Miyako's improvement and training, that if Carrie was skilled enough to use two shinais, then obviously she was just as good with one.
Ryoko Toda
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She may be a polite person, but she is cunning and callous on the inside.
- The Resenter: Ryoko loathes Erina for constantly beating her at every competition they attempt and making her look like a fool. Though it's mainly because Erina appears to be innately good at everything while Ryoko has to work herself to the bone to be at least half as good. Though she starts respecting her after witnessing her match with Sakaki and finding out about her history with kendo.
- Unknown Rival: Towards Erina Sawamiya.
Shouko Sueno
- Crushing Handshake: Delivers a strong handshake that makes Touko wince in pain and begged her to stop.
- Determinator: She refuses to lose to anything, even if it means fighting Ura before graduating from high school.
- Passionate Sports Girl: Pretty much dedicate all her youth for kendo.
Konishi
Voiced by: Yuu Asakawa (JP), Larissa Wolcott (EN)
- Eyes Always Shut: She keeps her eyes closed at all times.
