"The ultimate battle strategy: To avoid battle by removing an enemy's will to fight." — Empress Tenshi
a.k.a.: Grenadier ~The Senshi of Smiles~
Based in an alternate version of Japan's civil war period, this is the story of the travels of Tendou Rushuna, 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 Kojima Yajiro, 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 Kurenai Mikan, an orphaned balloon artist who has painful memories of her own to deal with.
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's strange actions.
Though there are only 12 episodes, Grenadier manages to explore each character and many of the foes in depth. The anime is very well suited to the
incredible ballistics and improbable weapons of the show, easily switching speeds to let the viewer see what is happening during combat. Featuring high quality animation, the show also is known for its ample eye candy. Rushuna's impressive bosom gives her a signature method of reloading her revolver in combat that must be seen to be believed.(The bullets come out of her cleavage while spinning and are slammed into the gun) It was for good reasons that the popular anime collection
AMV Hell played the song "Dark Chest of Wonders" as accompaniment to Rushuna's eye-popping gymnastics.
There's also a manga version with a plot far differing from that of the anime, 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 Jester into a nutjob
capable of making Hitler look sane), and quite possibly turning the world they live in into a post-apocalyptic scenario, except it's been so long after it that the
ancient super weapons are buried deep and the world is somewhat flourishing.
This show provides examples of:
- An Aesop - Conflicts are best solved with a smile—and preferably a soft hug to the chest. The big soft chest.
- Alternate History - Giving us a new version of Japan's civil war period.
- Anime Anatomy - Although Rushuna is rarely completely naked, there are situations where you'd think that at least her nipples would be exposed...
- Anime Theme Song - Since it aired on two different networks, there are two theme songs.
- Blasting It Out Of Their Hands - This is Rushuna's primary method of disabling opponents, leaving them moaning and clutching their wounded hands.
- Boobs Of Steel - Rushuna is the best marksman in the show, and the most endowed female. Unfortunately, so is her Evil Counterpart and rival. seriously, their so well-endowed, they'd have back problems, balance issues, and permanent black eyes if they were real women.
- Bottomless Magazines - Subverted: Rushuna can only fire six shots at a time, and even after reloading repeatedly she still runs out of bullets in at least one episode. That cleavage of hers can only hold so much, you know...
- Still, 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 shower of bullets.
- Broke Episode - Rushuna and Yajiro have to resort to street performances in order to get money in one episode.
- Calling Your Attacks
- Character Development - It's amazing how much exploring of each character is fit into twelve episodes without steering away from the plot.
- Chivalrous Pervert - Teppa
- Crouching Moron Hidden Badass - Rushuna
- Crowning Moment Of Awesome - Rushuna's crazy Gun Kata duel in the final episode is a shining example, although Yajiro gets one when he deflects a massive cannonball with a frickin' katana.
- Darwinist - The Jester.
- Doesnt Like Guns - Yajiro
- Double Entendre - Removing the enemies' armor. Some of those enemies would probably prefer that, in place of being shot to disabled...
- Dramatic Wind - With Mikan's forgiveness, Rushuna's skirt is blown in the wind.
- Everythings Worse With Bears - Part of Setsuna's Heroic Sacrifice in the manga.
- Evil Counterpart - Setsuna the Tenshi impersonator. This is reflected quite well visually, with her outfit, hair, and skin being stark contrasts to Rushuna's brighter colors.
- Fan Service - One of the figurines actually came with two different detachable bosoms.
- Firing In The Air A Lot - Win a weekend at the Peach Blossom Tower!
- First Name Basis - Yatchan
- Furo Scene - Rushuna is constantly searching for her next hot bath.
- Full Frontal Assault-The second half of the second episode, by Rushuna. Yummy...
- Gainaxing - Like you wouldn't believe. Actually used for a practical purpose, though.
- Gecko Ending - The anime and manga deviate quite a bit after the appearance of Suirou and Teppa.
- Godiva Hair - Rushuna fashions a swimsuit out of her hair in one chapter of the manga, when her hydrophobic swimsuit melts.
- Gun Kata - Rushuna and Setsuna in episode 12
- Hey Its That Voice - Yajiro is Mugen and Zoro.(See Kazuya Nakai below)
- High Speed Missile Dodge
- Hot Springs Episode - Seen in the closing credits.
- Hyperspace Arsenal - 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!
- In a less serious example, Setsuna. Where in hell does she keep that chest when dressed as Tenshi? The answer is Mammarspace.
- I Have The High Ground - While the Jester can stand on air, he favors high vantage points such as tree tops and cliffs.
- Implausible Fencing Powers - Yajiro uses his katana to fend off bullets, jedi-style.
- Improbable Aiming Skills - Rushuna is the queen of this, and is often considered to be The Stampede's Distaff Counterpart because of it.
- Improbable Weapon User - 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 Frickin Laser Beams.
- Actualy the Jester uses blasts of focused air
- In A Single Bound - Rushuna can pull this off, but so can others.
- Kazuya Nakai - Yajiro. Another swordsman by him.
- Luminescent Blush - Kasumi gets the hots for Teppa.
- Magic Bullets - Every blessed one of them.
- Magnificent Bastard - The Jester, who is more proactive than most.
- Marshmallow Hell - 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 Cooldown Hug.
- Mask Power - The Jester.
- Most Common Super Power - The three best women fighters in the series all have this. Lampshaded in manga by Mikan during an Omake, where she asks Rushuna how she got so big, and Rushuna has no idea.
- Ms Fanservice - Rushuna. Yes. If it weren't for Mai Shuranui, she'd be the queen of this.
- Odd Couple - Straight-headed gun-hater Yajiro with off-beat gunslinger Rushuna.
- Only A Flesh Wound - Rushuna shoots dozens of people but never kills anyone.
- Power Of Rock: One of the Jutensen-Imperial Guard-uses a specialized instrument to deflect bullets, and can probably liquify your innards with a riff.
- Samurai - Yatchan.
- Revolvers Are Just Better - 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.
- Seeing how she reloads her gun during battles, it is by far the best choice for her though.
- Scary Shiny Glasses - Though not very scary, when Aizen Teppa hides his emotions, his lenses go shiny.
- Schizo Tech - Robots, machine guns, and missiles, right next to swords and samurai armor.
- She Is All Grown Up - With the use of balloons, Mikan briefly appears to be older than she is, and even does Marshmallow Hell to Yajiro at one point.
- Shout Out - This troper thinks Rushuna's appearance must be inspired, to a certain degree, by Rei Ijuin
◊ of Tokimeki Memorial, down to the yellow eyes and blonde Rapunzel Hair.
- Sign Language - Suirou
- Soft Water
- Take My Hand - Yajiro and Fuuka, episode 9
- Team Shot
- Technical Pacifist - Yatchan believed that only with a sword could you feel the weight of a human life.
- The Gunslinger - Rushuna and Setsuna.
- This Is Something Hes Got To Do Himself - Yatchan versues the Jester.
- Twelve Episode Anime
- Unorthodox Reload - Rushuna loads her gun by ejecting bullets from her cleavage.
- Victorias Secret Compartment - See above.
- Weird Moon
- Wendee Lee - Rushuna's English voice.
- What Measure Is A Mook - 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.
- Wrongly Accused
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair - Every Japanese character has black hair, and Rushuna's blonde hair immediately marks her as a foreigner.
