The eleventh episode of the series which centers on a team of six Touken Danshi: Tsurumaru Kuninaga, who leads the group; Yamanbagiri Kunihiro; Kashuu Kiyomitsu; Suishinshi Masahide; Ookanehira; Hachisuka Kotetsu; and Mikazuki Munechika, who acts alone while messing around in the same time period.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Ookanehira. He still harbors some resentment toward Mikazuki Munechika for being one of the Tenka Goken, and he initially believes the Saniwa is giving Mikazuki preferential treatment because of it, but he doesn't dwell on it, and is actually nicer about Mikazuki than he is in the original game, even showing concern for him. This is especially true in the second act, where the two actually seem to be friends despite Ookanehira's feelings of rivalry toward Mikazuki.
- A Day in the Limelight: The story revolves primarily around Mikazuki Munechika and Tsurumaru Kuninaga, their griefs and hang-ups, Mikazuki's mission, and Tsurumaru's feelings toward Mikazuki. Even the historical conflict that frames the story ties back into theirs.
- Aloof Ally: Mikazuki is on a mission in the same time period as Tsurumaru's team, but for the majority of the story, he deliberately avoids them except for "chance" encounters, only to disappear again to go about his own business afterward. During the climax, he also seems conflicted about helping the group when they face off against the Kebiishi once again, only stepping in to help when it becomes clear that they'll die if he doesn't.
- Ambiguous Situation: Rather than be a conclusive end, this play raises more questions that will likely be answered in future installment’s:
- The question of just how old the citadel is has been raised here, more so than any other play in the series.
- The citadel had already been established by the time of Atsukashiyama Ibun, when Iwatooshi first manifested, and everyone was aware of their mission, which the Saniwa lampshaded by telling the group that he shouldn't have to remind them of what they needed to do. Aside from Iwatooshi, and maybe Imanotsurugi, it was clear that the other Touken Danshi had probably been there for a while, and were therefore more experienced. That means the citadel must be at least a few years old at the time of the play. Kashuu would also go on to say in Shinken Ranbusai 2016 that he and Hachisuka had been supporting the citadel from the beginning, being another hint that the citadel has been around a long time.
- This also raises the question of the swords' manifestation beginning with Atsukashiyama Ibun, given that Mikazuki Munechika was one of the first swords to manifest, being the third overall. As previously stated, Kashuu and Hachisuka claim to have been supporting the citadel since its inception, though they were most likely of the second generation due to their absence from the first six swords group and their lack of knowledge of the doomed mission or the grief that ensued. When exactly did Kogitsunemaru and the others manifest?
- What exactly is Mikazuki looking for by looping through so many different time periods? Is the supposedly broken sword still alive and trapped somewhere? Or is Tsurumaru right about Mikazuki looking for something that can’t found?
- Did Mikazuki lose some of his memories? When Saniwa speaks to him and Tsurumaru in the flashback, the names of the two swords that manifested before them are heard as static for the audience, making it unclear whether this was just another attempt to conceal the identities of the other early swords, or if it was to indicate that Mikazuki no longer remembers who they are.
- We now know that six swords were sent on the failed mission, those being Yamanbagiri Kunihiro, who was the captain, Mikazuki Munechika, Tsurumaru Kuninaga, the broken starter sword, who is all but stated to be Kasen Kanesada, and two other unnamed swords. This play rules out Kashuu Kiyomitsu and Hachisuka Koutetsu from being on the mission because they were not manifested at the time, leaving it ambiguous as to who else might have been there and what happened to them, given that they don't seem to be in the citadel and haven't been mentioned by anyone, as far as the audience have been shown. The trio's grief seems to be focused solely on the broken sword, meaning it's unlikely that died; so, where are they?
- This play confirms that Mikazuki Munechika and Tsurumaru Kuninaga were once close friends, but have since developed a distant, if not outright antagonistic, sort of dynamic. However, the play doesn't reveal why their relationship ended, other than vague hints that Mikazuki very suddenly left Tsurumaru behind to handle the responsibility of bringing up the citadel in his absence, and that Tsurumaru fundamentally disagrees with what Mikazuki has chosen to do. But during their confrontation, Tsurumaru tells Mikazuki that they should have crossed swords like this back then, implying that he knew Mikazuki was about to leave and tried futilely to stop him, contradicting the lyrics of their main story duet, which state that Mikazuki abruptly left before Tsurumaru knew it, as well as the play Kishou Hongi, which implied that Mikazuki was already gone by the time that Tsurumaru returned to the citadel from his long mission and asked the Saniwa what misbehavior Mikazuki was up.
- Why did a young Yasuhira appear at the end of the play to give Mikazuki a lotus flower? Was it all metaphorical? A hallucination? Was it to hint that Mikazuki was going to repeat his mission of fixing the timeline of the Genpei War? And did Mikazuki meet Yasuhira as a child in the story?
- The question of just how old the citadel is has been raised here, more so than any other play in the series.
- Anger Born of Worry:
- Yamanbagiri Kunihiro gives Kashuu a knock on the head for very nearly getting himself killed by antagonizing the Kebiishi.
- This is heavily implied as one of the reasons Tsurumaru is so angry with Mikazuki, whom he believes is on a futile mission that will almost certainly result in his death if he's not careful.
- Armor-Piercing Question: When Aterui asks Mikazuki how many times they've agreed to help him, he goes silent, implying that he's been looping this time period and also explaining why the Kebiishi showed up when he revealed himself to the other Touken Danshi.
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: In the second act of the day two performance, Ookanehira boasts about being the Yokozuna (champion, or highest ranked wrestler) of all swords before facing Mikazuki in a hand sumo match, only to lose when he slips and falls into Mikazuki's arms, unintentionally hugging him. Naturally, the other swords make fun of him for his overconfidence.
- Atop a Mountain of Corpses: Mikazuki stands atop of a mountain of Aterui's fallen soldiers at the beginning of the play.
- Bait-and-Switch: Both duets on the first day performance gave the impression that Kashuu Kiyomitsu Kiyomitsu and Tsurumaru Kuninaga would be singing solos by introducing them first, until Yamanbagiri Kunihiro and Mikazuki Munechika joined them on stage by walking out and emerging from the darkness, respectively.
- Big Damn Heroes:
- When the Kebiishi first appear, Mikazuki briefly returns twice to help Tsurumaru's team in fighting and gaining an advantage, even dragging the Kebiishi down the stairs to make their jobs easier. He only leaves for real when it's clear that they can finish them off without him.
- Mikazuki rushes in to save Suishinshi from Tsurumaru, who was beating him up and likely very willing to break him just to get Mikazuki to come out and confront him.
- Toward the end of the play, just as Tsurumaru's group is reaching their limit fighting off the Kebiishi, Mikazuki steps in and helps, with Tsurumaru and Yamanbagiri Kunihiro joining in to fight it off. However, it's Kashuu Kiyomitsu who helps in delivering the fatal blow.
- Big Damn Hug: After realizing Mikazuki has suffered greatly by listening to other people's grievances, Yahiko covers Mikazuki's ears and tells him it is okay not to listen, before giving him a big hug, to which Mikazuki slowly returns, as if surprised to receive affection.
- Bittersweet Ending: After what appears to be a reconciliation of their differences—that is, Tsurumaru's acceptance of Mikazuki's path—they have one final exchange that is similar to the one from Paraiso in which Mikazuki, through his Mononobe recruit, warns Tsurumaru not to push himself too hard and Tsurumaru responds by telling him to shut up, although this time, the exchange is lighthearted, and the two part ways once more. However, Mikazuki is still doing more harm than good to his mental health while on an apparently pointless quest to find something that the citadel lost, and now he has to worry about the Kebiishi being after him. Meanwhile, Tsurumaru is still lonely without Mikazuki, and hallucinates a memory of their happier times together. As for the other swords, they get a definitively happier ending, as they share a meal together and Kashuu has seemingly worked up the courage to ask Yamanbagiri Kunihiro about the old days of the citadel that the veteran swords have been hiding.
- Breaking Old Trends:
- It's the first main installment to not introduce any new Touken Danshi into the story.
- This play does not begin with the usual theme song, "Touken Ranbu," but instead introduces a new song.
- This is the first time the characters have received more than one focus song in the second act set list, with each character receiving a solo and appearing in a duet or trio song (in one case with Ookanehira, Suishinshi, and Hachisuka).
- It is also the first main installment in which the characters who receive solos during the second act rotate based on the performance day, ensuring that everyone has a chance to shine. Mikazuki Munechika and Yamanbagiri Kunihiro received solos on day one, followed by Kashuu Kiyomitsu and Hachisuka Kotetsu on day two, Tsurumaru Kuninaga and Suishinshi Masahide on day two part 2, and Ookanehira and Kashuu Kiyomitsu on day three (same solo as day 2), with the rotation continuing in a random order. The duet and trio combos remain the same every performance, however.
- It might be the first time that none of the characters wore anything skimpy for their "third layer," which was just their suits without the jackets.
- It also reintroduces two elements that haven't been seen in the main installments since Atsukashiyama Ibun: Uchiban outfits, which the characters wear in this work because a portion of the play takes place in the citadel, and Shinken Hissatsu, which the characters (except Mikazuki) experience during the final battle against the Kebiishi.
- The Bus Came Back: After appearing in two main stage musicalsnote , Mikazuki Munechika and Kashuu Kiyomitsu were absent from the main stage for six and four years, respectively, until making their formal comebacks in this play.
- Call-Back:
- From Paraiso, Tsurumaru returns Mikazuki's words, "Don't push yourself too hard," and Mikazuki tells him to "shut up," just as Tsurumaru did to him previously, although this time, it was meant to be friendly exchange.
- "Hana no Utena" from Tsuwamono Domo sung by Mikazuki Munechika makes a return in this play, albeit with updated lyrics. Tsurumaru Kuninaga also sings a variant of it at the end of the play.
- During his confrontation with Mikazuki, Tsurumaru reminds him that old people are supposed to keep their promises, referencing what Mikazuki said about being an old man who keeps his promises after he and Yasuhira parted ways in Tsuwamono Domo.
- One of the random games the characters play in the second act is song association, in which characters are instructed to correctly sing the lyrics to a previous song, and the other characters on their team have complete the lyric. Kashuu sings his part from "LOST THE MEMORY" from Atsukashiyama Ibun 2018 Paris, followed by Suishinshi singing Mikazuki's part in the song. Mikazuki Munechika sings "LOVE STORY" from Atsukashiyama Ibun.
- The Cameo: Yasuhira from Tsuwamono Domo briefly makes an appearance after his younger self gives Mikazuki a lotus flower.
- Chekhov's Gun: Mikazuki picks up a crane feather from his sleeve in the beginning of the play, but the audience is unaware of its significance at first, as its not revealed until later that Tsurumaru slipped it into his sleeve to track down Mikazuki, and Mikazuki, who realized this, intentionally kept it with him.
- Clothing Damage: This play brought back the extensive clothing damage from Atsukashiyama Ibun, which is a reference to the Shinken Hissatsu mode that the characters enter in the browser game. Everyone except Mikazuki loses most of their clothes in the climactic battle, though a flashback to the mission where Mikazuki, Tsurumaru, and Yamanbagiri Kunihiro are severely injured shows Mikazuki in this form as well.
- Continuity Nod: The play's motifs—lotus flowers, the sea, and snow—refer to the motifs of Tsuwamono Domo, Paraiso, and Kousui Sanka respectively.
- Coordinated Clothes: In the second live part, both Tsurumaru and Ookanehira's suits have design elements in common with Mikazuki, unlike the other members of the live, who have uniquer designs:
- Mikazuki and Tsurumaru both have dark blue to white gradient lapels, shimmery, ruffly shirts, collar chains, suspenders that only support the right side of their outfits, dark blue cumberbands, half gloves, and gold pin chains attached to the left lapel. They also have the same patterns on their suits. There are some deviations in their suit designs that distinguish them, such as the gold diamond pattern on Mikazuki's right lapel, which references the pattern on his default outfits hakama, and the gold stripes up the sides of his pants. Tsurumaru's suspender design is also a proper half-chain, reminiscent of the gold chains on his original outfit.
- Mikazuki and Ookanehira have the similar styles, ruffly shirts, matching suspender designs (though Ookanehira's is strapped diagonally across his chest), and dark gloves, although Mikazuki only wears half gloves while Ookanehira’s cover his entire hand. Ookanehira's unbuttoned shirt is also meant to make him look wilder than the tidier Mikazuki.
- Covers Always Lie: Despite being featured in the center of the poster alongside Mikazuki Munechika and Tsurumaru Kuninaga, and his gaze on Mikazuki implying that he has some relevance to the plot involving him, Kashuu isn't that much of a major character in the story and has little to do directly with Mikazuki's story. In reality, he, like Hachisuka, is more of a informed observer of the conflict than Ookanehira and Suishinshi, but he is still largely unaware of what is going on with Mikazuki and Tsurumaru due to the secrecy surrounding the citadel's early days. That said, while he does get given a bit more to do than Hachisuka, the characters who really move the story along are Mikazuki, Tsurumaru, and Yamanbagiri Kunihiro, to a very slightly lesser degree.
- Cover Version. "Flame Dance," the third layer strip song from Hanakage returns in this play.
- Death of a Child: Yahiko is killed 55 minutes into the story when his father refuses to disclose Aterui's location to the enemy. Mikazuki witnesses the incident but doesn't intervene because the boy was historically intended to die at that moment, but he does lay a lotus flower on his chest as a symbol of their friendship.
- Downer Beginning: The play begins with Mikazuki Munechika speaking with and witnessing the executions of Aterui and Iwagu no More, before sadly singing "Hana no Utena" while standing atop a mountain of Aterui's slaughtered soldiers.
- Easily Forgiven: No one really acknowledges Tsurumaru's beating up Suishinshi to bait Mikazuki into coming out; it's just all brushed aside after the fact.
- Empathic Environment: The wind can be heard gradually picking up as Tsurumaru beats up Suinshinshi in an effort to lure Mikazuki into a direct confrontation with him, indicating Mikazuki getting closer to them but also that he's fucking pissed.
- Face Death with Dignity: At the end of the play, Mikazuki cuts Aterui and Iwagu no More's bindings and tells them to flee to avoid being executed, but they refuse, preferring to die as intended and telling Mikazuki that his life is his own.
- Feather Motif: Tsurumaru, who has the image and motif of a crane, is represented by a crane feather in Mikazuki's flackback sequence. He also slips a crane feather into Mikazuki's sleeve, which is heavily implied to be a tracking device of some sort.
- Flashback: The musical features several flashbacks to the early days of the citadel, including happy times, and the doomed mission where a sword is implied to have broken.
- Flower Motifs: All over the place, beginning with the return of Mikazuki's lotus flowers and his signature song "Hana no Utena."
- Cherry blossoms are a recurring theme throughout the play, referring to the tradition of planting one for each new Touken Danshi initiated by the (presumably) broken sword.
- All of the Touken Danshi's Live outfits have flower patterns printed on their suits, with a different design for each Touken Danshi.
- Flowers are mentioned in the lyrics of the second to only Live group song, "Hyakken Kyouran".
- Foreshadowing: The play begins with Mikazuki speaking with a tied-up Aterui and Iwagu just before their execution, foreshadowing that Mikazuki has visited this time period several times. Aterui also refers to Mikazuki as "Arahabaki," implying that Yahiko's later identification of him as such was not the first time he played god to these historical figures.
- God Guise: An odd example: As a tsukumogami, Mikazuki is somewhat of a god, but after saving Yahiko and his father from the Historical Revisionists, Yahiko mistakes him for the mysterious Tohoku deity Arahabaki, and he chooses to play along. After a while, the other historical figures begin to identify him as Arahabaki as well, and he doesn't bother correcting them. The beginning of the play suggests that this happens every time he visits the time period.
- Happy Flashback: A few.
- Yamanbagiri sings nostalgically as he watches Aterui and Iwagu spar, recalling Mikazuki and Tsurumaru's playful sparring in the citadel's early days. Aterui and Iwagu vanish from the flashback, leaving only two characters, whose dialogue grows louder and clearer even as Yamanbagiri continues to sing. The flashback ends with a representation of their current relationship, with the two coldly facing away from each other, Tsurumaru casting a one-sided glance at Mikazuki before leaving, and Mikazuki continuing on with his mission.
- Toward the end of the play, Mikazuki has a physical flashback to the early days of the citadel, with some of the happier memories being his time spent with Tsurumaru, them practicing Haikus together, and Mikazuki drinking tea while Tsurumaru chastises him for not helping him dig a hole to plant the cherry blossom tree for the newly manifested sword in.
- Hope Spot: A very brief one happens when Yamanbagiri's team brave through their wounds and defeat all three of the Kebiishi and start putting away their swords, thinking the battle is over, only for another even stronger Kebiishi to march out seconds later.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: In the final climatic battle, Kashuu gets impaled through the stomach by a Kebiishi, but manages to survive it due to the Touken Danshi being harder to kill than humans. He's still considered gravely wounded and causes the other Touken Danshi to worry, however.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: The flashback Mikazuki has toward the end of play heavily implies that he lost some of his memories of the past, as when the Saniwa says the names of the two swords who predate him, all that's heard is static.
- The Leader: The Saniwa designates Tsurumaru as the group leader, but after he gives the order for the team to return to the citadel to recover from their injuries following a battle with the Kebiishi, Yamanbagiri assumes leadership to allow Tsurumaru to do as he pleases, such as confront Mikazuki without being constrained.
- Let's Duet:
- Mikazuki and Tsurumaru have a duet in the main story.
- Mikazuki Munechika and Tsurumaru Kuninaga, as well as Yamanbagiri Kunihiro and Kashuu Kiyomitsu, performed duets together. Meanwhile Hachisuka Koutetsu, Suishinshi Masahide, and Ookanehira performed a song as a trio.
- Living Macguffin: Mikazuki Munechika serves as this for Suinshinshi Masahide, who wants to find him so he can help him and understand the role he's been assigned, and Tsurumaru Kuninaga, who wants to find and confront Mikazuki so he can understand his mission and convince him to abandon it to return to the citadel.
- Meaningful Echo: In Paraiso, at the end of the Shimabara mission, Mikazuki, through a message delivered by the Mononobe, advised Tsurumaru not to push himself too hard, which Tsurumaru responded to by angrily telling the Mononobe to tell Mikazuki to "shut the fuck up" in response. The reverse is repeated here, albeit in a light-hearted manner when the two part ways, with Tsurumaru in a gentle tone telling Mikazuki not to push himself too hard, to which Mikazuki smiles and tells him to "shut the fuck up" which Tsurumaru smiles and laughs at, signifying that the two came to an understanding after confronting each other.
- Missed Him by That Much: Tsurumaru's team miss Mikazuki several times throughout the play, as he tends to leave just before they show up as if deliberately avoiding them.
- Mood Whiplash: Similarly to how the historical figures who died in the main story return during the second act without explanation, the second act glosses over Mikazuki leaving again and Tsurumaru's grief over their separation by having Mikazuki return and perform with everyone like nothing happened. He and Tsurumaru even interact normally and perform a duet together, making it unclear how much of the second act should be accepted as canon.
- Moveset Clone: Played for Drama; While it was previously shown that Mikazuki and Tsurumaru are both Dance Battlers, this performance highlights just how similar their fighting styles are—to the extent that they fight off the Kebiishi almost in unison and use nearly identical defensive moves when fighting each other while seemingly also being able to predict each other's moves. A flashback to the citadel's early days shows them sparring playfully together, with Tsurumaru moving sloppily and Mikazuki's moves sharper, implying that they not only trained a lot together, but Mikazuki also played a significant role in helping Tsurumaru develop his move set.
- Mythology Gag:
- During Mikazuki's flashback sequence, he, Tsurumaru, and Yamanbagiri Kunihiro say their forged lines from the browser game when they first appear in Saniwa's citadel. When Yamanbagiri Kunihiro first appears, Mikazuki also says the same line he says when a new sword is forged.
- The Shinken Hissatsu outfits, which had not been seen since Atsukashiyama Ibun, are reintroduced in this play, primarily for Tsurumaru's team, as Mikazuki is not injured enough throughout the play to lose his clothes, though his can be seen briefly in flashback.
- Nightmare Sequence: Suishinshi has a nightmare about confronting Mikazuki Munechika with questions about his role, what Mikazuki wanted to protect, and what it means to protect history. The nightmarish aspect stems from him losing and Mikazuki briefly burrowing his sword into Suishinshi's head, which his exclamation implies is painful even in his dream.
- One-Man Army: Mikazuki handles both the Historical Revisionists and Kebiishi with ease whereas the other Touken Danshi both in this play and in previous ones struggle against the Kebiishi even while working as a team. Must have had a major offscreen power up between Tsuwamono Domo and this play…
- Out of Focus:
- Aside from a vague discussion with Suishinshi about Mikazuki Munechika, Hachisuka Koutetsu has little to do in the story and is primarily an observer of the conflict happening all throughout.
- The main story's song distribution is very uneven. Hachisuka and Ookanehira had no solos, Suishinshi Masahide, Yamanbagiri Kunihiro, and Kashuu Kiyomitsu received one each, and all five were otherwise limited to group song performances. Meanwhile, Mikazuki Munechika and Tsurumaru Kuninaga had multiple solos (including songs broken up into parts between scenes), and had a duet with each other. However, this was at least somewhat understandable given that the play was essentially about Mikazuki and Tsurumaru, both apart and together.
- Mikazuki is absent from a few group songs and only appears toward the end of the play's opening group song because he is not a member of the main unit and is acting alone.
- Poor Communication Kills: Like in Tsuwamono Domo and Kousui Sanka no Yuki, a recurring theme in this play is a lack of communication between characters who desperately need to talk to one another.
- Tsurumaru and Mikazuki's lack of communication is heavily implied in this play to be the reason their once close friendship failed, as they were unable to express their desires and intentions to each other, resulting in Mikazuki leaving the citadel, Tsurumaru taking on more responsibility than he can handle in his stead, and resentment building up primarily on Tsurumaru's end as he watches his former best friend continue on in what he believes is a futile mission. Tsurumaru is also unable to tell Mikazuki that he misses him and wants him to return to the citadel, instead acting hostile toward him and telling him that his mission is making the Saniwa sad.
- Despite taking Suishinshi under his wing, Mikazuki fails to communicate with him about the purpose of his assigned role or the mission he assigned to him, leaving Suishinshi distraught to the point of anxiety and nightmares.
- Ironically, Ookanehira, a character who believes in just coming out and saying how you feel, was in the cast and had the potential to solve many of the group's problems had his screen time and story impact not been purposefully limited to prevent this from happening.
- Retcon:
- This play reveals that the first swords in the citadel were the unknown starter sword (all but stated to be Kasen Kanesada), the unnamed first sword, Mikazuki Munechika, Tsurumaru Kuninaga, Yamanbagiri Kunihiro, and an unnamed sixth sword that was on their team, all manifesting in that order. However, this contradicts the story in Shinken Ranbusai 2016, which states that Kashuu and Hachisuka supported the citadel from the start, in that same speech implying that Mikazuki wasn't around during that time, or at the very least didn't have a close relationship with Kashuu, which seems highly unlikely given Mikazuki's personality, his fondness for Kashuu in Atsukashiyama Ibun, and the fact that Kashuu already knew him personally enough to complain about his personality before they even went on the mission. Hachisuka and Kashuu also seem to be largely unaware of the early days of the citadel in this play, with Kashuu directly asking Yamanbagiri about it, implying that they manifested long after everything involving the first team was said and done, or at least long enough after that the remnants of the first team could carefully conceal any remaining darkness from the failed mission and allow them to grow up oblivious to what happened.
- In Tsuwamono Domo, Mikazuki Munechika took on the task of correcting the flow of history in order to spare the Saniwa the mental and emotional pain of dealing with it, with no indication that it was for any other reason. However, it's heavily implied in this play that Mikazuki became the mechanism to find the broken sword that was first mentioned in Kousui. Given that the broken sword was never mentioned in relation to Mikazuki until this play, it's unknown if this was always a planned plot development (if it's even the case) or if it was decided later.
- Sacrificial Lamb: Yahiko, the child Mikazuki befriends, is killed off 55 minutes into the play.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: To their annoyance, Mikazuki leaves scenes involving the other Touken Danshi as quickly as he enters them, making it nearly impossible for them to get answers from him. This eventually triggers Tsurumaru to beat Suishinshi to bait him to come out for a face-to-face confrontation.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: The Touken Danshi take off their fancy fur-lined coats to show off custom-made suits that make them look like they just stepped out of a Host Club.
- Strong as They Need to Be:
- Mikazuki can fight off the Kebiishi and Historical Revisionists single-handedly, but when confronting Tsurumaru, who struggled against Kebiishi previously, he somehow manages to get hit by him several times and Tsurumaru actually seems like a problem. Possibly justified, given that the two are Moveset Clones and can likely predict each other's moves. Still, for someone who makes fighting Kebiishi look like a walk in the park, you'd think Tsurumaru wouldn't be as difficult for him.
- While it still takes a bit of effort to take them down, the Touken Danshi don't struggle against the Kebiishi at the end of play nearly as much as they did at the beginning.
- Suddenly Shouting: Ookanehira can barely make it through a conversation without shouting.
- Tsundere: Tsurumaru's feelings for Mikazuki are extremely complicated, but if they could be summed up in one word, this is close enough. He is extremely resentful of him, and his animosity is heavily implied to be a mix of worry, disagreement with his decision to go on what he believes is a futile mission, and abandonment over Mikazuki's departure from the citadel. However, the two were once very close friends, and Tsurumaru still expresses his desire for their friendship in his song lyrics, particularly in their main story duet, and has auditory and visual hallucinations of their happier times together, but he still can't outright admit that he stills cares.
- We Used to Be Friends: Several flashbacks to the citadel's early days reveal that Mikazuki and Tsurumaru were very close, manifesting around the same time and spending a lot of time together as a result. However, the two are now antagonistic toward each other, mainly on Tsurumaru's end, and there is no clear reason why their friendship ended. The happy flashback of them playfully sparring together is tragically contrasted by Tsurumaru later angrily confronting Mikazuki, and the two cutting away at each other to understand each other's feelings, implying that the friendship's failure was caused by a fundamental disagreement between the two.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Yahiko is still a child, but seems to have a high amount of emotional intelligence, as he can tell by just looking at Mikazuki that he has suffered a lot by listening to other peoples grievances, and gives him a comforting hug, assuring him that it's okay not to listen.
