Theatre / Musical Touken Ranbu

Team Sanjou with Kashuu Kiyomitsu

Touken Ranbu; It's time to release our strongly tempered steel!
Touken Ranbu; We will keep our pride high
Even if we rust away!
—"Touken Ranbu", each show's opening song

One of three distinct stage continuities alongside Touken Ranbu Stage and Kabuki Touken Ranbu, Musical Touken Ranbu (or TouMyu as it's affectionately abbreviated) is a series of musicals adapted from the Touken Ranbu franchise, notable for being the first ever official Touken Ranbu adaptation back in 2015, beginning with it's trial performance, as well as for its… unique take on what would eventually become the standard Touken Ranbu formula.

Like with every installment that would follow it, the musicals adopt the games premise:

The year is 2205. The Historical Retrograding Force, time criminals who seek to alter the course of Japan’s history for mysterious purposes, have begun their aggressive assault on the past. To counteract their efforts, the Saniwa, a sage who can rouse the spirits of objects, is dispatched by the Government of Time to create an army of Touken Danshi, the strongest tsukumogami born from famous swords, to be sent back in time in order to preserve history and defeat their enemies.

Each installment centers on a different team of six Touken Danshi who have been dispatched by the Saniwa to stop the Historical Revisionists in a particular era. However, the challenges these teams face are not always limited to the Historical Revisionists; Often, these teams struggle with issues such as conflict between the members and within themselves, attachment to their former masters, and how each member of the team learns to deal with the responsibilities of protecting history. But when the main story comes to an end and the play's second act begins, the Touken Danshi leave their sadness behind and return to the glittering stage dressed in flashy costumes and singing modern-sounding songs while smiling cheerfully in front of an audience of penlight and Uchiwa waving Saniwa.

Yes, you read that right.

Toumyu takes the already pretty bizarre premise of the original game and gives it its own unique twist with its Two-Act Structure: Part 1, called Honpen, tells the main story, while part 2, called Live, concentrates on the Touken Danshi acting as Idol Singers (in all but title) and entertaining the audience to "hone their skills as Samurai."

It's about as disjointed as it sounds, often being subject to Mood Whiplash due to the somber tone of the main story, but it is entertaining nonetheless and became an immediate hit with audiences on its trial performance. So successful, in fact, that it's among the longest-running and most lucrative 2.5D works in the industry, scoring solo concerts, full-fledged concerts, producing a number of very popular in-character singles, and even seeing the characters appear on popular music shows, such as NHK Kōhaku Utagassen and Music Japan.

The musicals have also garnered quite the international audience; performances in China are not uncommon since at least Bakamatsu Tenrouden, and the cast has performed at the French Japan Expo since 2017. In July 2018, the musical franchise branched out internationally; most of the original cast came back to perform Atsukashiyama Ibun at Japan Expo for the French audience, while the DVDs for the play now come with English subtitles.

2020 finally saw to a crossover between the stage play and musical continuities as a part of a project to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the browser game Touken Ranbu. Titled Touken Ranbu: Daienren, the two citadels were expected to collide in August 2020 at Tokyo Dome. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, it was cancelled and replaced with a cast talk event.

The first three musicals eventually received adaptations in print media; Novelizations of the first three musicals have been released with illustrations done by Sui Ishida of Tokyo Ghoul fame, while Atsukashiyama Ibun and Bakamatsu Tenrouden got manga adaptations drawn by Kyo Yamazaki and serialized in Tonari no Young Jump.

Toumyu also has a premium fan site that includes behind-the-scenes photos, cast blogs, premium videos, early access to performance lottery tickets, and wallpaper, as well as access to the audio drama, Honmaru Hana Koyomi.

Main Installments

The musical's main plotline. Each story is directly referenced in the following installments, with some serving as direct continuations of previous storylines. From Kishou Hongi onwards, the stories are tied into a larger narrative.

• Atsukashiyama Ibun (The Strange Tale of Mt. Atsukashi)
  ^+SummaryKashuu Kiyomitsu, after being debriefed by his Saniwa, is given leadership position on a mission. His task: lead the very oddball Sanjou school Touken Danshi to Mt. Atsukashi, 1189, in order to see about the Historical Revisionists targeting Lord Minamoto no Yoshitsune. Strange enough, when they get there, they find that both Yoshitsune and his retainer Musashibo Benkei are alive when they're both supposed to perish following Fujiwara no Yatsuhira's ambush on Yoshitsune's home. Although the crew seek to investigate further, Imanotsurugi is too starstruck by his former master to want to carry it out; meanwhile Iwatooshi, a relatively new Touken Danshi, is conflicted about his mission and his fellow Danshi's happiness. Meanwhile, Yoshitsune wants bloody revenge on Yoritomo, his envious brother who carried out he hit, and he and Benkei begin to rely on some dark power to achieve it...
  • Musical Touken Ranbu: Trial Performance (2015)
  • Atsukashiyama Ibun (2016): Essentially, a revision of the Trial Run. It adds three new songs to the main play ^note Kogitsunemaru and Ishikirimaru get "Utaka no Komoriuta", Ishikirimaru and Kashuu replace their war conversation with "Mujun to iu Na no Tsubomi", and Imanotsurugi protecting Yoshitsune in the climax is turned into "Oboeteiru", and some aesthetic changes are made. New songs are also added to the second half, such as Mikazuki's solo "Endless Night".
  • Atsukashiyama Ibun 2018 Paris - A rerun of the first play for Paris Japan Expo. The way the main story unfolds is slightly different from the previous runs with additional scenes. Two new songs are added to the main story: "Mukau Tsuchi-Oto," a new duet between Mikazuki Munechika and Kogitsunemaru, and a rendition of "Hana no Utena" from Tsuwamono Domo sung by Mikazuki Munechika. The Touken Danshi also perform new songs from the single LOST THE MEMORY and don new idol costumes in the second half of the show.
• Bakamatsu Tenrouden (Tale of the Bakamatsu Dog Star) (2016)
  ^+Summary Hachisuka Kotetsu, a standoffish and serious character, is now the appointed captain of Squad 1, leading The Shinsengumi swords into the Bakamatsu era and into, surprisingly, near the entire Shinsengumi timeline from pre-formation to 1868. Here, they are to prevent the Time Retrograde Forces from killing Shinsengumi captains Kondo Isami, Hijikata Toshizo, and Okita Soji (or otherwise altering their histories) before they even have a chance to really form the infamous squad. In an effort to not only fight alongside his master but also get the chance to protect him, Yamatonokami decides to temporarily join the Shinsengumi with the risk of changing history. Hachisuka meanwhile cannot get over his discontent with Nagasone, and is still in the process of learning what it means to be a leader. With the Ikeda Inn raid looming over everyone's heads, it's up to our heroes to make sure the trio don't get killed at an inopportune time, while the Retrograde Forces quietly make their move...
  • 2020 Rerun
• Mihotose no Komoriuta (The Three Hundred Year Old Lullaby) (2017)
  ^+SummaryNikkari Aoe and Ookurikara are called on an expedition in Mikawa 1543, but they run into some unexpected bad luck. They answer the cries of the Matsudaira clan too late, and furthermore, they cannot return to the Citadel since they've lost all contact with their home time period. Even worse, with the Time Retrograde Forces destroying the clan near completely, nobody historically important is left to help cultivate Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu and groom him into the man that unifies Japan and makes the Bakufu. However, one lone child survives the massacre; and in a last ditch effort to save the clan the baby is given to the two Touken Danshi. When Ishikirimaru and the Matsudaira clan blades come in to assist them, the former suggests one daunting task—they take up the names and roles of Ieyasu's retainers and carry out the historical events as they should happen, from scratch. However, the huge timeline upset from the massacre calls forth a foe quite unlike the usual Retrograde Forces, and threatens to become more of a danger if the new timeline goes one foot out of order...
  • 2019 Rerun
• Tsuwamono Domo ga Yume no Ato (The Remains of the Warrior's Dream) (2017)
  ^+SummarySome time has passed since the Mt. Atsukashi mission. While things have settled down, the Saniwa is getting more worried over two particular swords—Imanotsurugi, who still has baggage over the mission; and Mikazuki Munechika, who has been acting out of sorts recently. To make matters worse, everyone is worried about Imanotsurugi discovering he's not a real sword, even more when the Minamoto clan treasures Higekiri and Hizamaru arrive to the Citadel. This veritable storm of problems brewing on the heroes' end only gets more exasperated when they're given their mission to go back to the late Heian/early Kamakura period...and back to the Genpei War, where the Minamoto clan's story is to be played out again. Most of the Touken Danshi are to prevent the Retrograde Forces from interfering with the Kamakura shogunate's formation; meanwhile, Higekiri and Hizamaru are to keep an eye on Mikazuki the whole time, but Kogitsunemaru decides to to some investigating of his own. With the Minamoto once again on the line and the rest of the gang facing some inner turmoil, will our heroes be able to keep history in check?
• Musubi no Hibiki, Hajimari no Ne (The Resonance of Endings, The Sound of Beginnings) (2018)
  ^+SummaryThe Citadel gains a new member: this time, the elegant Tomoegata Naginata, who plays the role of an outsider to the Bakumatsu-era politics of his future companions. He and Izuminokami find themselves perplexed by the attitude of Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki—a Touken Danshi who's not only been around, but seems to welcome the tragedies in history and the forward march of combat technology. This clash of ideologies sets the stage for their next mission, to travel to 1868 and the end of the Shinsengumi timeline to prevent the History Retrograde Army from tampering with Hijikata Toshizo's historical importance. The Touken Danshi once again grapple with their feelings on the end of the age of swords, as well as those concerning the fates of their masters; while Tomoegata looks inside himself to articulate his feelings on being a weapon without a "story" to call his own. The Retrograde forces don't make things easy this time around either, with them pulling bolder—and more unexpected—tactics. Can the heroes preserve Hijikata's legacy before it's too late?
• Kishou Hongi (2019)
• Shizuka no Umi no Paraiso (Paraiso of the Sea of Tranquility) (2020): Most performances were cancelled due to COVID-19.
  • 2021 Rerun: Rerun schedule after the initial performances were cancelled.
• Tokyo Kokoro Oboe (2021)
• Kousui Sanka no Yuki (2022)
• Hana Kage Yureru Tomizu (2023)
• ~Michi no Oku Hitotsu wa Chisu~ (2024): Notably, Mikazuki Munechika and Kashuu Kiyomitsu return to the main stage after 6 and 4 years, respectively, excluding their special performances in Kotobuki Ranbu Ongyousai 2021 (Mikazuki) and Shinken Ranbusai 2022 (Kashuu).

Side Story Performances

A series of side performances centered on one or more characters. These stories, like the special performances, are best described as side stories that do not interfere with the main storyline. Kashuu Kiyomitsu's first few performances were more like concerts, but beginning with Higekiri Hizamaru Souki 2019, more story elements were introduced to these performances.

• Kashuu Kiyomitsu Tanki Shutsujin/Solo Performance — Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
  • Tanki Shutsujin 2017
  • Tanki Shutsujin 2018
  • Tanki Shutsujin Asia Tour
• Higekiri Hizamaru Soki Shutsujin 2019 — Similar to Kashuu's solo concerts, except the focus this time is turned to the Genji swords Higekiri and Hizamaru. Marks these performances becoming more story heavy.
  • Shutsujin 2020 -SOGA-
• Nikkari Aoe Tanki Shutsujin (2021) — Similar to Higekiri and Hizamaru Souki, except the focus this time is turned to the Nikkari Aoe.
• Tsurumaru Kuninaga Ookurikara Souki Shutsujin - Shunpu Touri no Sakazuki- (2022) — Similar to Higekiri and Hizamaru Souki, except the focus this time is turned to Tsurumaru Kuninaga and Ookurikara.
  ^+SummaryTsurumaru and Ookurikara watch the lunar eclipse, which prompts Tsurumaru to wonder when they last had a night like this. The show then flashes back to when Ookurikara first manifested in the citadel and covers the first mission Tsurumaru and Ookurikara embarked on together, in which they walked through Date Masamune's entire life to discover what the Historical Revisionists' plan for him was. Kosai Souitsu, Date Masamune's mentor, guides them throughout the journey and serves as the narrator of Date's life.
• Go On Stage: Shinpen Satomi Hakkenden (2022) — Marks first side performance with more than two characters.
  ^+Summary The Gou swords (plus Suishinshi Masahide and Oodenta Mitsuyo) put on a play based on Satomi Hakkenden.
  • Go On Stage: Zepp Tour (2024) — Ditches most of the original runs story elements in favor of being a concert tour through Zepp music halls. Very similar to Kashuu Kiyomitsu Tanki Shutsujin.
• Sengo Muramasa Tonbokiri - Souki Shutsujin - (2023) — Similar to Higekiri and Hizamaru Souki, except the focus this time is turned to Sengo Muramasa and Tonbokiri.

Concerts and Special Performances

Special performances and concerts. These events are side stories at best with questionable placement in the main story's timeline. Generally are accepted as Loose Canon.

• Shinken Ranbusai: The yearly cast roundups and festivals.
  • Shinken Ranbusai 2016: The casts of Atsukashiyama Ibun and Bakamatsu Tenrouden return for a whole night of dance and song!
  ^+Summary One day, Kashuu Kiyomitsu is brought to an unfamiliar place. Confused and dazed, he soon finds himself captured by the Sanjou school swords, who seek to claim Kashuu for themselves, and the Shinsengumi Team along with Hachisuka Kotetsu go off to rescue him. Their goal- climb the five hills and complete the challenges seen there before a gong sounds off for the fifth time. While they may say that, the Sanjous aren't all that malicious, and their real motives remain unclear...
  • Shinken Ranbusai 2017 — Featuring the casts of Mihotose and Tsuwamono.
  ^+Summary The Touken Danshi are tired of dealing with this cold winter. Among other suggestions to heat up, Nikkari Aoe suggests an unexpected solution: perform the Hyakku Monogatari to get the blood boiling. The Touken Danshi then spend the day telling 100 stories concerning themselves and their strange origins and namesakes. At the end of the hundred tales, what will happen?
  • Shinken Ranbusai 2018 — Featuring the cast of Tsuwamono, Bakamatsu Tenrouden, Musubi no Hajimari, and Mihotose.
  ^+SummaryThe Touken Danshi debate whether the East or the West have better festivals, so Mikazuki Munechika proposes that they hold an East-West Showdown to decide and divides the teams into two groups based on which region each Touken Danshi is most associated with. Tomoegata, who has no historical basis, is appointed referee and will determine the winner. Meanwhile, Tomoegata struggles to understand the significance of festivals.
  • Shinken Ranbusai 2022 — A notable departure from previous Shinken Ranbusai formats, it lacks the short story framing and instead plays out more like a traditional concert, with audience interactions throughout.
• Musical Touken Ranbu in Itsukushiyama Jinja (2016) — A one day event that celebrated Itsukushima's 20th year as a registered World Heritage.
• Utaawase Ranbu Kyouran 2019 (2019) — A series of plays within a play with concert segments interspersed throughout.
  ^+SummaryThe Touken Danshi decide to hold a poetry contest. At the same time, Tsurumaru Kuninaga leads a mysterious ritual throughout.
• Touken Ranbu Daienren (2020): The long awaited crossover with the stage play continuity to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the browser game Touken Ranbu. Cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
• Kotobuki Ranbu Ongyokusai (2021): A Milestone Celebration event commemorating Musical Touken Ranbu's fifth anniversary. invoked
  ^+SummaryMikazuki Munechika has an In-Universe look back on the past five years of Touken Ranbu Musical. The other Touken Danshi then join him on reminiscing.
• Suehirogari Ranbuyagaimatsuri (2023): A Milestone Celebration event commemorating Musical Touken Ranbu's eighth anniversary. In 2024, it was announced that the event would be edited into movie format and released into theaters on May 24th of the same year. invoked

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Tropes spanning the entire musical series:

Tropes A-D

• 20 Minutes into the Future: Like the browser game, the story opens in 2205, but aside from the ability to time travel, which is never explained, the future doesn't seem all that technologically advanced. The Touken Danshi also seem to have limited access to and understanding of technology, as Higekiri and Hizarmaru have no idea what planes are (although the other Touken Danshi used one to get to Paris for their sortie) and Mikazuki explains to Tsurumaru what the "black box"—implied to be a camera—that the Saniwa are watching him through is.
• Action Prologue: Many of the shows open up with a flashy battle sequence in the time period the Touken Danshi will be investigating.
• Adaptation Expansion:
  • The musical expands on a few concepts introduced in the browser game but not fully explained, such as abandoned timelines.
  • The "Iwatooshi and Imanotsurugi aren't real" subplot from the browser game is expanded upon in the play Tsuwamono Domo.
• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • While he still tries to be aloof, Ookurikara is much softer and more malleable than his browser counterpart. Even in his moments of rudeness, he's portrayed as being mildly Tsundere at worst.
  • Yamanbagiri Chougi's polite persona from the browser game becomes his default personality in the musical.
• Adaptational Personality Change: Arguably, everyone goes through varying degrees of personality shifts in this continuity due to the hamminess that even the calmest of Touken Danshi participates in, but some changes are more obvious than others:
  • Mikazuki Munechika's portrayal in the early years of Toumyu was markedly different from how he is in the browser game and subsequent adaptations, being far more eccentric, loud, goofy, and full of energy, particularly in the Lives and side stories, with viewers deeming him a younger version of the Mikazuki seen in the original game. His character wouldn't actually start to properly resemble the mellow but dignified, mysterious but also somewhat eccentric and playful old man that viewers were more accustomed to until Tsuwamono Domo.
  • Sengo Muramasa is the most changed of any character in the lineup, as he's made much more campy and feminine in this continuity, whereas he was fairly calm and mysterious in the browser game.
  • The usually calm Hyuuga Masamune is made out to be a Genki Boy, at least in his appearances with Urashima Kotetsu.
  • Tsurumaru Kuninaga goes from a genuinely whimsical and easygoing guy to an enormous Stepford Smiler who uses those aforementioned traits to mask his inner sadness and implied self-hatred.
  • Yamatonokami Yasusada is a little (or a lot) more air-headed in this continuity to better fit the Boke and Tsukkomi dynamic he has going with Kashuu Kiyomitsu. This is especially noticeable during concerts, where he is free to be more silly, but he maintains this silliness even when Kashuu is not present to play the Tsukkomi role.
  • Yamanbagiri Kunihiro has also undergone a personality change; Instead of being a brooding loner with hang-ups about being a copy of a famous sword and being defined by low self-esteem, he is now a bit cryptic and enigmatic, but not entirely unapproachable, especially after receiving a bit of Character Development in Kousui. His internal conflict shifted from being a sword copy to feeling as if he failed his presumably deceased teammate. He is also no longer a loner by Michi no Oku (if he ever was in the first place), as he actively engages with his teammates and has had close ties with Mikazuki Munechika and Tsurumaru Kuninaga since the citadel's infancy.
  • Even the manga gets in on this, changing the characterization in the musicals slightly to either match their portrayals in later shows or to fit the theme of the scene better.
• Adapted Out:
  • Konnosuke due to being a talking fox. He is referenced in Shinken Ranbusai, with a Konnosuke theme for Shinken Ranbusai 2018 and a Konnosuke penlight design for Shinken Ranbusai 2022, but there is never any mention of him in the main story.
  • The Tousou are likewise not mentioned or shown, as is the case with most adaptations except Hanamaru.
• All Musicals Are Adaptations: It's a long-running adaptation of the original browser game. Having said that, it does stand out in a number of ways, as it is the only Touken Ranbu work in which the Touken Danshi moonlight as freaking idol singers.
• Animate Inanimate Object: Every main character is a tsukumogami, or a tool Yōkai that gained a spirit and sentience after 100 years. The Saniwa gave them the human forms they appear in in the musical, but they retain memories from their time spent as swords, which comes up frequently in the story, often not being a good thing.
• Ape Shall Never Kill Ape: Inverted Trope; Some Touken Danshi appear to have reservations about killing humans, but will fight other Touken Danshi with intent to kill if necessary. They also have no problem killing the Historical Retrograde Army, who are also Touken Danshi, albeit corrupted versions of them, because they are the enemy.
• Arc Symbol: The moon, particularly the crescent moon. While it first appeared in Atsukashiyama Ibun, it did not gain symbolic significance or become a recurring motif until Tsuwamono Domo, where it first represented the visible impact one has on another's life, such as Mikazuki's impact on those who participated in the Genpei War, before becoming the symbol that hints at Mikazuki's presence in a specific era and his tampering with the timeline, albeit offscreen.
• Ascended Extra: While not extras in their debut plays, the historical figures play smaller roles than the Touken Danshi and fade out of the narrative, never mentioned again once the Touken Danshi's involvement in their story is over. However, they often return for concerts, fulfilling the same role they do in the second acts of main installments by giving the actors a break and singing an intermission song and playing taiko drums during the Touken Danshi strip sessions. In the play Utaawase, there's also a bit performed by Nobuyasu, Sadachika, and Ieyasu from Kishou Hongi.
• Aside Glance: The characters will occasionally look at the audience while commenting on something that happened in-universe, using for the sake of comedic effect.
• As You Know:
  • In the first two musicals, the Saniwa explains the story premise to the Touken Danshi prior to their mission despite the fact that they already know everything and have been at war with the Historical Revisionists for a long time. He even lampshades the fact that he doesn't need to remind them, but does so anyway for the sake of the audience. Every musical after Bakumatsu Tenroden assumes the audience already knows what's going on and doesn't explain it, however.
  • In the first musical's live performance, the Sanjou swords remind Kashuu Kiyomitsu why they're singing and dancing as idols in front of an audience of Saniwa, despite this apparently having been something they've been doing for a while.
• Audience Participation: In some performances, the actors go into the stands and interact with the audience directly.
• Audience Participation Song: Sometimes "Takaramono" is played like this.
• Auto-Tune: Some of the singles have the weaker vocalists auto-tuned. Sometimes it's just them; other times, though, all of the singers are auto-tuned to a degree to help the singers who actually need the auto-tune blend in better. Sometimes it's blatant, like in "MISTAKE," but other times it's more subtle.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: At times, the major players fight in pairs, so there are ample amounts of time when they perform this trope.
• Because Destiny Says So: The Touken Danshi are pretty insistent on not making significant changes to the timeline for this reason although later on in the installments, it’s revealed that there are actual, pretty dire consequences to these changes happening beyond it just being treated as fate. They do make some exceptions, however, such as letting some historical figures who were fated to die go free if their survival won’t make a significant impact on history.
• Bittersweet Ending: Quite a few of the musicals end on a bittersweet note:
  • In Bakamatsu Tenrouden, Nagasone is spared from killing his former master by Hachisuka, who does it for him, and the two are on slightly better terms now that they've come to an understanding, but Nagasone still feels empty after the experience, which he reveals in Musubi no Hibiki, Hajimari no Ne.
  • Tsuwamono Domo ga Yume no Ato ends on a bittersweet note for Imanotsurugi, who, despite finally meeting his older master, is given a hint that he isn't a real sword because Yoshitsune doesn't recognize his name. He decides to Kiwame train to discover for himself, which players of the browser game will recognize has the Foregone Conclusion of Imanotsurugi discovering that he doesn’t exist but coming to terms with it. Mikazuki Munechika and Kogitsunemaru also come to an understanding about Mikazuki's role and make amends, but Mikazuki is still tasked with correcting history on his own, which has most likely expanded to encompass all of Japanese history by Tokyo Kokoro Oboe.
  • Shizuka no Umi no Paraiso ends with the Touken Danshi successfully correcting history at the cost of the older brother being brutally murdered by Shogunate soldiers and mistakenly identified as Amakusa Shirou, guaranteeing his place in history as a martyr. The Touken Danshi mourn his death, but the sweetness comes from the fact that he was able to protect his younger brother, who is later saved by one of Mikazuki's recruits and will most likely be in safe hands.
  • In Tokyo Kokoro Oboe, Mikazuki is revealed to be stuck in the role of the person who corrects and protects history, but with the help of Suishinshi, he has been able to alleviate his burden somewhat by recruiting other Touken Danshi to help him with his mission.
  • In Kousui Sanka, the timeline is irreparably broken, and the Government of Time isolates it from the rest of history, but the gang returns just in time to stop Yamanbagiri Kunihiro from sacrificing himself for their sakes. It then cuts to a scene of the Touken Danshi gathering after witnessing the death of Li Naosuke, to whom Nansen says his final goodbyes before the mood shifts to a more positive one, indicating that he will be able to move on. At the end of the main story, the gang leaves in better spirits and joking with one another, suggesting that they've grown closer from this experience.
• Blow That Horn: How announcements are made known in this Citadel.
• Bookends: Every main storyline performance begins and ends with the theme song "Touken Ranbu" being performed.
• Bragging Theme Tune: "Touken Ranbu" is pretty much this and an Expository Theme Tune, having each Touken Danshi relevant to the story talk about their strengths and their pledge to keep fighting until their last breath. "Shouri no Hata", performed during the first musical, can also function as this, given it's all about their mission statement of crossing time to protect history.
• Break the Cutie: Between all the goofing around and idol performances, the Touken Danshi go through some shit, and it only progressively gets worse with every installment.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall:
  • During lives, with the In-Universe justification of the Touken Danshi performing for an audience of Saniwa. They even go out into the crowd and directly interact with the them. At the end, they all return to the stage in their original costumes and ask the Saniwa if they enjoyed the performance before saying their goodbyes.
  • At the beginning of Shinken Ranbusai and it's spin-off performances, the Touken Danshi have in-character bits where they address the audience and inform them of the rules, such as not being allowed to record, take pictures, or use their penlights before the scheduled time to avoid taking attention away from the main performance. In the end, all of the characters gather and greet the audience to ask about their enjoyment and announce what's next on the production schedule.
• Break-Up Song: "LOVE STORY" seems to be one.
• Breather Episode:
  • The idol performances at the end of each play really help to lighten the mood, especially given the bittersweet or outright depressing endings that these plays tend to have.
  • Many of the side stories. Nikkari's Tanki is a compilation of short stories and character exploration, Kashuu Tanki is just a concert, and Gou on Stage are the Touken Danshi putting on an In-Universe play with plenty of comedic moments. Unlike the main installments, which tend to have heartbreaking angst, all of these shows are full of lighthearted moments and are largely inconsequential.
• The Cameo: In 2020, Kuroba Mario returned as Mikazuki Munechika in the NHK broadcast program The Mark of Beauty, an educational series that examines beauty in all its forms. The episode of the program focused on Japanese swords, with Mikazuki answering questions for the host due to being an incarnation of a famous sword. This feature was reran in 2022 to coincide with the stage productions version of Mikazuki Munechika's feature on the same program.
• Cast Full of Pretty Boys: This is to be expected from an adaptation of a game that features objects personified as attractive men. Many of the historical figures are also played by attractive men. Moreover, there are no noteworthy or named female characters in the cast thus far other than Megohime, who was also portrayed by a pretty man.
• Cast Herd: There are many characters, and new ones are introduced in each main story play or, less frequently, in special performances. However, outside of concerts and commemorative performances, these characters do not all show up together, with 6-8 characters instead being assigned to a team in each musical, all of which are usually (but not always) related to the time period being visited in some way.
• Cast of Personifications: Downplayed Trope; While the main cast is made up of swords given human form, the human cast also plays important roles in driving the story and building connections with the Touken Danshi, as well as each other.
• Casual Danger Dialogue: The Touken Danshi have a tendency to make quips mid-battle, with these sometimes being quotes said by their browser game counterparts.
• Cherry Blossoms: Cherry blossoms are a reoccurring flower motif, symbolizing the traditional aspect of the story setting, although they appear less frequently than in the browser game—mainly because it's a live work. In the play Michi no Oku, cherry blossoms become plot important when it is revealed that the original citadel made it a custom to plant a cherry blossom tree each time a new sword was forged, but that this tradition was dissolved with the death (or disappearance) of the sword who started it.
• Chromosome Casting: In these plays, every performer is man, even in the cases of minor, unnamed female roles. In a 2020 interview, Word of God talked about the inclusion—or rather, the exclusion—of female characters in these kinds of musicals; however, as of 2024, Musical Touken Ranbu's casting decisions remain unchanged.
• Close-Enough Timeline: Really, "correcting history's mistakes" just boils down to this. The good side doesn't much care how history corrected itself, it just needs to have the same events happen to co-align with current history, and they'll be fine.
  • Sure, Yoshitsune and Benkei don't die in the raid by Yasuhashi, and Yoshitsune doesn't commit sepukku, but they still die albeit, by Yoshitsune's hand in Benkei's case and after being possessed in Yoshitsune's case.
  • Kondo Isami still dies at Itabashi; he is not executed by the government, since Soji kills his would be executioners, but instead requests his own death at the hands of the Touken Danshi.
  • Tokugawa Ieyasu does go on to conquer and unify Japan under his rule— at least, with the help of the Touken Danshi replacing his retainers. And Noboyasu still dies, in a way; while he doesn't commit seppuku, he does get "killed" trying to save Ishikirimaru, and escapes the eye of history by becoming an ordinary farmer and renaming himself Gohei.
  • After long thought, Hachisuka outright advocates for this after allowing Yamatonokami to join the Shinsengumi.
  The flow of history is like a large river. A small ripple won't affect the greater flow. Even if it does, we'll have to keep it out of the history books.
• Clothing Damage: Thanks to special effects, the characters do get injured and have damage reflected on their clothes, although Atsukashiyama Ibun is the only play in which the clothing damage is extensive.
• Clap Your Hands If You Believe: The Touken Danshi can exist as long as someone believes they are real, which is why Imanotsurugi and Iwatooshi were manifested by the Saniwa despite having no basis in reality other than legends. According to Hanakage, the opposite can also be true: a lack of belief in a specific sword can cause the Touken Danshi associated with it to revert back to their tsukumogami form and vanish.
• Color-Coded Characters: Like real idols, each Touken Danshi is assigned a member color, which is reflected in their penlights so that fans can cheer them on during concerts. When the production started out, Toumyu initially used simple colors like blue, yellow, green, pink, purple, and red, but as more Touken Danshi appeared in musicals, the team became more creative with color selection, leading to penlight colors like Opal Green, Vermillion, and Smoky Purple, and so on. Even then, some colors have minimal differences, especially for white-aligned characters like Horikawa, Tsurumaru, and Yamanbagiri Kunihiro. Good luck trying to see the difference between White, Pearl White, and Ivory in the dark.
• Common Crossover: With Touken Ranbu Stage. Given that the two Touken Ranbu stage productions were released around the same time, it's no surprise that fans frequently cross over the two series, with the same characters played by different actors meeting in fan art and fanworks. The two citadels almost met officially in a massive crossover event titled Daienren in 2019, but that was quickly nipped in the bud due to the prominence of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently replaced with an out-of-character Cast Talk event.
• Concept Video: This is how many of the music videos for the series' songs are set up, with little stories inserted between scenes of the characters dressed in costume and performing.
• Concert Episode: Shinken Ranbusai is a festival which used to occur on a yearly basis before other other types of special events were introduced. Suehirogari also counts, although it was a festival to commemorate the series' eighth anniversary.
• Continuity Nod:
  • The Sanjou School swords are mentioned in the beginning of Tenrouden, as Kashuu was relieved of leadership duty for that group. "Yakuwari" is also used as a motif in "Erabarenu Mono".
  • In Mihotose, Monoyoshi teaches a young Ieyasu "Kirakira" when they go out to play.
  • Kashuu's fanservice line in Shinken Ranbusai 2017 ("I'll love you as long as you look at me") references one of his songs from his solo concert (Mitsumekure naru/As long as you look at me).
  • "Nagoritsuki" returns in Tsuwamono Domo, this time sung by Imanotsurugi rather than Iwatooshi. And just like him, he sings under a moonlit night sky with a lot weighing on his mind. Mikazuki even listens in on it like he did with Iwatooshi.
  • "Hana no Utena" from Tsuwamono Domo was retroactively added to Atsukashiyama Ibun 2018 Paris, the rerun of the original play. A new rendition of the song also appears in the play Michi no Oku.
• Cool Old Guy: All of the Sanjou swords, being swords forged in the Heian era, but especially Mikazuki Munechika, who emphasizes that he's an old man but is fairly carefree. Later averted with Imanotsurugi and Iwatooshi, however, as don't exist historically other than in legends, and are technically only a few weeks old by the time they're met in the first musical, making them the series' youngest swords.
• Covers Always Lie: The musical covers tend to give the wrong impression about which characters will be the main focus of the play's main story. For example, Mikazuki Munechika is always positioned in front in group shots in the Atsukashiyama Ibun even though he only plays a supporting role in the first act, whereas Imanotsurugi is one of the main focus characters and would almost always be shown off to the side of the group or in the back. In Imanotsurugi's case, this is true even for the manga covers of the play.
• Cover Version:
  • While the majority of the set lists from new main story installments include new songs, some songs from older performances are covered by newer groups in their albums. For example, "Takaramono" was originally a Sanjou (sans Kogitsunemaru) song but was later covered by Team Paraiso for their album in 2021.
  • The songs where the Touken Danshi strip down to their final layer of clothing tend to be used in multiple installments. For example, Atsukashiyama Ibun's "Otokomichi" is covered in Bakamatsu Tenrouden and Kousui Sanka while "Kanki no Hana" from Mihotose is covered in Tsuwamono Domo. Notably, to keep the songs fresh, recent renditions usually have updated choreography, with the exceptions of "Tōkon Uta" from the Mihotose rerun and "Flame Dance" from Hanakage.
  • Yearly cast roundup festivals like Shinken Ranbusai only include around four new songs while the rest of the set list is comprised of songs from the earlier musicals usually covered by different characters. For example, "mistake," which was first performed by the Sanjou swords and Kashuu Kiyomitsu, has been covered almost yearly since its debut, to the extent that nearly every Touken Danshi in the series has sung it at least once.
  • In the idol singer segments of the side story performances like Kashuu Tanki, many of the songs the characters sing are covers of songs from earlier performances.
• Costume Evolution:
  • Some characters' costumes have undergone minor changes to make them more practical for their actors to move around in. For example, characters with potentially dangerous footwear, such as Kashuu's heels or Tsurumaru and Imanotsurugi's geta sandals, will be shown wearing them in promotional materials and magazine covers, but their actors will wear flat shoes during actual performances to avoid injury. Complaints from Kashuu's actor prompted the production department to increase his heel with each costume update, though they were never the same height as Kashuu's original heel for safety reasons.
  • In most of the early performances, Mikazuki's sleeves are shown to be about half the length of the original character designs to not impede his actors movements during dance and battle choreography. However, due to the actor getting better control of how to move around in the costume, the sleeve length would be updated to match the length of the character's original design from Atsukashiyama Ibun 2018 onward.
  • The use of makeup by the production team has also evolved, with the actors for long-eyelashed characters like Mikazuki Munechika, Tsurumaru Kuninaga, and Hachisuka Koutetsu's wearing false eyelashes from Kotobuki Ranbu Ongyousai onward.
  • In the musical reruns, the characters return in updated idol costumes:
    • In the original Atsukashiyama Ibun performance and trial run, the characters dressed more like traditional male idols, whereas in their updated costumes, they dressed more princely.
    • The characters in Bakamatsu Tenrouden originally wore biker-style idol costumes made of leathery material, but they would return in 2020 with outfits inspired by traditional Japanese kimonos.
• Costume Porn: Along with the characters/actors wearing highly detailed recreations of the game's costumes, which the design team has lovingly brought to life, the characters are given extremely flashy, multi-layered idol costumes that incorporate motifs from their original character designs to make them uniquely their own.
• Creator Cameo: The Saniwa is played (or rather, voiced) by the director of the musicals, Isamu Kayano.
• Crossover:
  • In 2018, Musical Touken Ranbu had a live cross-over event with Yomiuri Giants, aptly titled TouMyu x Yomiuri Giants Collaboration Nighter. The event featured several actors from the musical, all in-character and in costume performing and interacting with each other, as well as the teams. Kuroba Mario as Mikazuki Munechika was also given the honor of throwing the ceremonial first pitch.
  • Ishikirimaru from this citadel had a cameo in the climax of the second Touken Ranbu movie.
• Cultured Warrior: Team Sanjou, as a group, fulfills this trope by being the oldest and most traditional swords in the musical lineup to date. They regularly perform songs and historical re-enactments in their spare time, and Mikazuki advocates for all of the Touken Danshi to be cultured, believing that a proper warrior should be skilled in both battle and the arts.
• Dark Secret: Michi no Oku, Hitotsu wa Chisu reveals that one of the early swords broke during a mission gone wrong, which has long since been kept a secret by the swords who were on the mission (Mikazuki, Tsurumaru, Yamanbagiri, and two unnamed others) and the Saniwa so that the swords who manifested after them won't have to bear the grief they experienced and can grow up living relatively peaceful lives in the citadel (you know, aside from all the traumatizing missions).
• Dance Battler: As dancing can lead to sword fighting, and vice versa, many characters occasionally fight like this. However, some characters, such as Mikazuki Munechika and Tsurumaru Kuninaga, are defined by how it always looks like they're dancing when they fight, no matter the context.
• Demonic Possession: Happens quite a few times:
  • After the fight with Yasuhashi, contact with the Retrograde Army somehow led to Yoshitsune's sword coming to life in addition to the immeasurable power given to him, Benkei, and Yasuhira. Yoshitsune's sword ends up taking over by stabbing itself into his body, killing Yoshitsune but leaving him a controllable corpse.
  • Okita Soji's sword is possessed in the climax of Bakamatsu Tenrouden, causing him to be possessed as well.
• The Determinator: The Kebiishi will not stop in its pursuit of timeline anomalies, no matter how badly injured it is or what stands in its way. It's also extremely powerful and difficult to kill, which is why the Touken Danshi are terrified of it, despite their usual nonchalance toward other types of enemies. In the rare cases where they actually have to face them, it takes the strength of all six Touken Danshi to take one Kebiishi down.

Tropes E-H

• Early-Bird Cameo:
  • The cast of Bakamatsu Tenrouden shows up at the end of Atsukashiyama Ibun to advertise their musical, which would be performed in the same year.
  • Matsui and Kuwana make their first appearances in Utaawase Ranbu Kyouran before their proper debut in the installments.
• Early-Installment Weirdness:
  • All three of the first musicals used special effects and referenced gameplay mechanics. These would mostly be phased out in future plays, although some use of special effects would still be used to signify the Historical Revisionists influence on the historical figures, especially when it comes to sword possession.
  • From Bakamatsu Tenrouden, while the concept of Historical Revisionists possessing people through the corruption of their swords would stay, shape-shifting and talking Historical Revisionists would not.
  • Kashuu's three Tanki events are the only solo tours that are truly like a "concert," as Higekiri and Hizamaru's Souki's would set the trend of these events being more story-driven.
• Evolving Music: The theme song "TOUKEN RANBU" has its lyrics change depending on which characters are singing it.
• Excuse Plot: The In-Universe reason the Touken Danshi sing and dance on stage as idols whenever they travel to the modern era is because dancing is one of the necessary accomplishments of a samurai, and to entertain the people is to master the sword. The out-of-universe reason is for Fanservice.
• Faking the Dead:
  • Tokugawa Nobuyasu is legally dead come the end of Mihotose, and he becomes a farmer under his old friend Gohei's name.
  • Tsuwamono Domo's Yoshitsune ultimately doesn't go through with his honorable suicide, instead leaving the battlefield altogether with Benkei after the Touken Danshi inform him he's as good as dead at this point.
• Fanservice: Tou Myu is by far the most fanservice-laden spin-off of the Touken Ranbu series, with the way it inspires new shipping material between the sword boys for the viewer, new character dynamics between groups and characters who don't usually interact (and who you wouldn't expect to interact) due to how random the line-ups can be at times, and, most importantly, how it has the Touken Danshi moonlight as idols, complete with new flashy outfits and songs. You won't find the amount of fanservice provided by these performances anywhere else in the series, though Touken Ranbu - Hanamaru can occasionally come in as a close second with the number of Ascended Memes that end up in the show—including from Tou Myu!
  • Many of the Touken Danshi are shown to be very close in the main story, which the actors play up during the live concerts by teasing each other in front of the audience. As a result, it's not uncommon to see the actors affectionately caressing each other onstage or serenading each other. They even hold hands in some performances.
  • In Atsukashiyama when the swords fight, and clothes get torn up along the way. This is especially evident in their final fight, where Iwatooshi and Imanotsurugi take the most damage and have correspondingly the most clothing torn.
  • The Touken Danshi wear several layers of clothing during the Idol Singer portions of each performance, which they progressively strip off until the "Otokomichi" (or equivalent) song sequence, when they throw off their tops, exposing their sweaty, slim tops and midriffs/chests/backs to the audience. Even better, "Otokomichi" has lyrics about the Touken Danshi singing about the arduous journey of being a man while doing this.
    • The actors really love to take advantage of these outfits, too, especially infamous fanservice boy Mikazuki Munechika/Kuroba Mario. In fact, it has become an unspoken tradition for the actors to post selfies showing off backless or midriff exposing outfits on social media after performances.
  • In the 2016 Shinken Ranbusai version of "Tokenai Mahou", Kashuu does of a lot of hip thrusts while he's dancing, including with a backup dancer.
  • Tanki Shutsujin is filled with this. One of Kashuu's songs has him bound up singing about how much he loves his master; he and the backup dancers dance more provocatively in some musical numbers, and they get to mess around with him.
  • At one point in Musubi no Hibiki, Horikawa is tied up by the Shinsengumi, interrogated by Hijikata himself.
• Flashy Protagonists, Bland Extras: Only the Touken Danshi have technicolor hair and eyes, and the majority are dressed anachronistically. In the latter case, even those who are dressed appropriately for the time period they were forged in, such as Mikazuki Munechika, who wears a Heian period nobleman's outfit, stand out because of how colorful and stylized their clothes are.
• Full-Name Basis: Some swords refer to each other by their full names even in casual conversations, with the exception of swords with Overly Long Names like Izuminokami Kanesada.
• Gender Reveal: While never seen onscreen, the Saniwa of the main story is heard, and he has a deep male voice.
• Genre Deconstruction:
  • In most Touken Ranbu works, the Historical Revisionists are portrayed as little more than mindless mooks, plot devices, and obstacles for the Touken Danshi to plow through to reach their goal. While the musicals still lean into them being obstacles for the most part, there have been a few instances where Historical Revisionists have been portrayed sympathetically due to the overarching theme that war is not black and white.
  • In keeping with the overarching theme that War Is Hell and that not all historical conflicts are as black and white as they seem, the musicals differ from some other historical focused works and even some other Touken Ranbu works in that they focus heavily on those on the losing side of history and the tragedy of it, rather than those that went down in history as the victors.
• The Ghost:
  • Several characters from previous musicals are mentioned in ones where they don’t physically appear, such as Mikazuki Munechika, Nagasone Kotetsu, and Ishikirimaru in Paraiso.
  • The sword that broke from Yamanbagiri's previous team is alluded to in Kousui, although the characters never specify who it was. The play seems to heavily imply that it may have been Kasen Kanesada, however.
• God Was My Co-Pilot: Inverted, since the story follows the gods interacting with humans while also pretending to be human, with the actual humans none-the-wiser that they're interacting with supernatural beings. The only humans who know are the Saniwa(s) and those Mikazuki recruits to the Mononobe, who are specifically tasked with helping the Touken Danshi in preserving history.
• Good Is Not Soft: Zig-Zagged; While the Touken Danshi are usually merciless toward the Historical Revisionists, some have reservations about the sheer lengths they must go through to ensure the preservation of history, especially if it means killing innocent bystanders who were historically intended to die.
• Gratuitous English: This is prevalent in many, many of the live songs, to the point that it would probably be easier to list the songs that don't have random English lyrics. Worse, a lot of these lyrics are usually Engrish. "Gateway" is one of the worst offenders.
• Grey-and-Gray Morality: A common theme in the musicals. While the Touken Danshi are the "good guys," fighting against the Historical Retrograding Force to preserve history, they often have to commit unambiguously evil acts to ensure that history proceeds as intended, such as murdering innocents, herding innocents to their deaths, and other methods of ensuring the suffering of people if it was what was meant to happen to them. The Touken Danshi also discuss the distinction between themselves and the Historical Revisionists eventually concluding that there is none because everyone is fighting for their own justice, but the losers in the struggle are the ones who are labeled as the bad guys.
• He Who Must Not Be Seen: The main story Saniwa, who has yet to appear on screen and only communicates with the Touken Danshi as a disembodied voice, at least from the audience's perspective. The Touken Danshi can see him and make references to his facial expressions during conversations.
• Historical Domain Character: In full effect here. From the Yoshitsune household to the Bakamatsu era, the series looks at many well known historical figures, as well as some lesser known ones.
• Hotter and Sexier: While it's not uncommon for the Touken Danshi to strip down in the browser game and other spin-offs they only do so when injured. Still for fanservice, but not without reason. Here, they strip down purely for the audience's enjoyment. And let's not even get started on the sex-themed songs and extremely suggestive dancing.

Tropes I-O

• Iconic Item:
  • Mikazuki Munechika wears his signature headband with every idol costume.
  • Tsurumaru Kuninaga's idol costumes are always accessorized with his golden choker and half gloves with matching wristbands from his default outfit.
• Idol Singer: During the second act of each main installment, the Touken Danshi essentially moonlight as idols (although they aren't explicitly called such) to hone their skills as Samurai and entertain an audience of Saniwa. They are also treated like real idols outside of the musicals as well, with yearly Concert Episodes, an official fan site that people can sign up for, and cast blogs.
• Intercourse with You: "can you guess what?" is one of the few team concert set songs with this theme, as they talk about joining bodies, a night of passion, and not stopping until morning. Tonbokiri's solo concert song "Real Love" also counts. "Secret Sign" creeps as close as possible to this trope by referring to all the passionate love the singers want to do as "kissing".
• Irrelevant Act Opener: Before the main story really begins, the Touken Danshi perform songs and dances for the Saniwa, either solo or in a duet with another person. These songs have nothing to do with the rest of the musical and are usually performed for the audience's/Saniwa's entertainment and to give the singer with an extra song in the set list.
• Journey to Find Oneself: A handful of shows end with one or more of the Touken Danshi leaving for their Kiwame training. This usually comes after a whole mission set in a time period relevant to their pasts, tons of time for introspection, and them desiring to become stronger for the mission to protect history and to better themselves. So far, this has been the case for Imanotsurugi (Tsuwamono Domo) and four of the Shinsengumi swords (Musubi no Hibiki).
• The Leader: The Saniwa designates a team leader for each mission in each major installment. It's important to note that a character's role as team leader has no bearing on whether or not they are the main character in the narrative, as their teammate, or more often, teammates, are often the driving point of the story:
  • Atsukashiyama Ibun: Kashuu Kiyomitsu
  • Bakamatsu Tenrouden: Hachisuka Koutetsu
  • Mihotose: Ishikirimaru
  • Tsuwamono Domo: Imanotsurugi (asked the Saniwa)
  • Musubi no Hibiki: Tomoegata Naginata
  • Kishou Hongi: Tsurumaru Kuninaga
  • Paraiso: Tsurumaru Kuninaga (asked the Saniwa)
  • Kousui Sanka: Ookanehira
  • Hanakage: Heshikiri Hasebe
  • Michi no Oku: Tsurumaru Kuninaga, Yamanbagiri Kunihiro (asked the Saniwa.
• Limited Wardrobe: Usually Played Straight in the main story, as the characters are almost always shown wearing the same outfit no matter how much time passes in the story. Every character also has an Uchiban outfit, although these have only been used twice in the entire series and are only seen when the characters spend an extended period of time in the citadel.
• Made of Iron:
  • The Touken Danshi, although not invulnerable, are able take a lot of punishment and fight through wounds that would normally be fatal to a normal human. This also holds true for the Historical Revisionists, although they go down a bit easier than the Touken Danshi themselves.
  • Any human possessed by the Historical Revisionists is nearly impossible to kill quickly because they will simply keep getting up.
• Manly Tears: The boys do cry often and openly here. "Otokomichi" also discusses the sentiment about men crying during the bridge:
  On the night our dreams had failed and we shed tears,
  The wind started blowing and spoke to us;
  "Don't be afraid to cry; but if you try again,
  who knows how strong you will become?
  • Hijikata, no matter what age, is a big softie underneath his no-nonsense persona. He blubbers like a baby when he believes he's going to see Kondo for the last time, and downright weeps when Nakajima gives him Kondo's head to bury.
  • In Paraiso, Matsui, Hyuuga, and Urashima resort to Inelegant Blubbering after witnessing the brutal murder of a young boy and his brother, until it's revealed that the young boy is still alive.
• Melancholy Musical Number: Multiple: "Nagoritsuki" in the first musical, "Chikara ni Areba" in the third, "Hana no Utena Ichi" and "Hana no Utena Ni" in the fourth, and "Ibitsunaishi" in the fifth.
• Minor Character, Major Song: If the secondary character has a name, there's a good chance that he'll get a song number in the play.
• Mood Whiplash: The live segments in which the Touken Danshi return to the stage as idols and perform cheerful songs. These invariably occur at the end of every main story play no matter how depressing a note the original play ended on, meaning a play could go from everyone sobbing over Izuminokami's former master being killed in front of him to the Touken Danshi wearing flashy costumes and gyrating in the span of a few minutes. Fans refer to these segments as a "mental reset" because they quickly make the audience forget what they just witnessed and become more upbeat.
• Mook Chivalry: In most performances, the Historical Revisionists will stand idly by waiting for their turn to attack while their comrades get their asses kicked, despite them often having the advantage in numbers and how they could very easily take down a less experienced Touken Danshi if they ganged up on them. If more than one Historical Revisionist does attack, it is solely to show off how effortlessly the Touken Danshi in question can repel them.
• Mr. Fanservice: Every single character/actor during Lives. There isn't a single one of them who isn't willing to show some skin, especially if they're rocking a Sexy Backless Outfit, dance seductively, or flirt with audience members or even each other. The actors even play this up on their social media accounts. It probably goes without saying that part of the casting process requires those auditioning to have some level of self-confidence, lest they be outshined by notorious and unabashed fanservice characters Kashuu Kiyomitsu, Mikazuki Munechika, and so on…
• Mythology Gag:
  • You'll sometimes hear the characters' in-game quotes during the plays, especially when battle rears its head.
  • Konnosuke, the animal Mascot from the browser game, gets visually referenced Shinken Ranbusai 2018 and Shinken Ranbusai 2022 as festival props and penlights.
  • In Atsukashiyama Ibun, Iwatooshi and Imanotsurugi lose their clothes similarly to how they do during Shinken Hissatsu in the browser game.
    • The "Otokomichi" (or equivalent) song sequence is the musical equivalent of the browser game Shinken Hissatsu state, in which the Touken Danshi lose some of their clothes in battle and reveal some skin. Except in this case, the Touken Danshi are deliberately stripping down for Fanservice.
  • Mihotose revisits Ishikirimaru and Nikkari's recollection, in which the latter laments his disqualification from being a divine sword because he killed a ghost child. In this musical, it takes a turn for the positive, as Ishikirimaru reassures him that his raising Tokugawa Ieyasu and kin more than makes up for it.
  • For the Touken Ranbu franchise's third anniversary, the Tsuwamono Domo main cast took photos as their respective Touken Danshi, sitting as they do in their characters' in-game anniversary pictures.
  • Ishikirimaru's low mobility stat in game is referenced in the musicals, where he walks very slowly across the stage.
  • Kashuu’s pose◊ from the opening of Touken Ranbu - Hanamaru was referenced in the event Kotobuki Ranbu Ongyokusai◊.
• Naïve Newcomer: Each formation has a newbie Touken Danshi who is unfamiliar with the setting or time period their assigned group travels to so that things can be explained to them/the audience while avoiding As You Know:
  • Atsukashiyama Ibun had Iwatooshi, who was newly forged at the start of the play. Imanotsurugi is actually the one who fulfills this role despite having been forged before him, while Iwatooshi and the others try to keep him in line.
  • Invoked in Musubi no Hibiki, Hajimari no Ne, as Tomoegata is a newbie sword who the Saniwa assigns as team leader to a group of more experienced swords to help him gain firsthand experience.
  • In Shizuka no Umi no Paraiso, both Hyuuga Masamune and Urashima Kotetsu played this role, though due to their childlike personalities, they were also portrayed as being generally naive.
  • In Kousui Sanka no Yuki, both Ookanehira and Nansen Ichimonji were newly forged, but only Nansen asked questions about the time period.
• Never Bare Headed:
  • Mikazuki Munechika's tasseled headband is a staple of almost all of his costumes, with the exception of his Uchiban outfit, where he instead wears a yellow head scarf with his crest painted on it.
  • Except for in his Uchiban outfit, Imanotsurugi is almost always shown with some sort of hair accessory on.
• Non-Uniform Uniform: The idol costumes worn by the Touken Danshi in each performance typically share a theme (Atsushiyama Ibun appears to be a male idol themed, Bakamatsu Tenrouden is a biker, and so on), but are otherwise uniquely designed to fit the style and vibe of each Touken Danshi.
• Not So Episodic: The musicals have always had some sense of continuity, as later plays reference previous ones, and others serve as "sequels", such as Tsuwamono Domo to Atsushiyama Ibun. However, they did feel episodic in the sense that the Touken Danshi would go on their missions, deal with the Historical Revisionists and clean up the mess they made, and then the next group would repeat the process in the next play. It wasn't until Kishou Hongi that the near completely episodic feel was ditched, as the seemingly self-contained "Mikazuki meddles with history" story from Tsuwamono Domo was actually the start of the musicals' overarching storyline.
• Oddball in the Series: It's one thing that this Touken Ranbu adaptation features the characters singing and dancing in a serious setting—musical adaptations of popular works that you wouldn't expect to be turned into musicals are very common—but the Two-Act Structure, where they transform into fanservice-y idol singers in the second act and strip off their clothes in front of an audience full of cheering "Saniwa" for entertainment, is in another ballpark, even with the In-Universe justification. It also doubles as an example of Early-Installment Weirdness because it was the first major adaptation of Touken Ranbu to go live^note Touken Ranbu Stage was also announced and in the works but wouldn’t go live until months later and the only one outside of the gag anthologies to deviate somewhat from what would become the expected formula for the series.
• Ode to Intoxication: "SAKAZUKI Hana Kyoudai!" is a partying song, talking about how hard everyone works in the daytime so they can be piss drunk by nightfall. In some concert performances, this is accompanied by a skit about the singers running out on a bar after drinking the place out and not paying their tab.
• Officially Shortened Title: Toumyu. It's also the official hashtag for the production.
• Original Generation: Like its stage show counterpart, the musicals have introduced original Touken Danshi of their own, such as Inaba Gou. Some of them would make their way back to the game proper.
• Out of Focus: Given the ever growing size of the cast with Touken Danshi introduced with every new installment, this is inevitable.
  • The standard for main story installments seems to be that a Touken Danshi will only appear twice before disappearing from the plot, with subsequent appearances limited to questionably canon side stories and concert episodes, assuming their actor decides to participate. In recent years, some Touken Danshi have returned for third stage appearances (Izuminokami in Kousui, Kashuu, Mikazuki, and Tsurumaru in Michi no Oku), but this typically takes years to happen. For reference, the shortest third stage gap was 3 years, while the longest was 6.
    • There are a handful of Touken Danshi who haven't even gotten second stage appearances. The most notable examples of this are Monoyoshi Sadamune and Nikkari Aoe, who made their main story debuts in the third musical Mihotose and haven't been back for seven years.

Tropes P-Y

• Petal Power: In his Pot of Beauty appearance, Mikazuki time travels into the present day with cherry blossom petals swirling around, reminiscent of how Touken Danshi's time travel is depicted in other Touken Ranbu works.
• Put on a Bus: It's common for a Touken Danshi to appear in two main story musicals before disappearing from the plot; after that, they will usually only be seen in the annual festival like Shinken Ranbusai (assuming their actor can make it) and events like it, which don't interfere with the main story, or will otherwise be mentioned in passing. There's usually an In-Universe justification for their disappearances, such as Imanotsurugi and the Shinsengumi swords going Kiwame training.
• Quickly-Demoted Leader: With the exception of Tsurumaru Kuninaga, who was the leader in both of the main story plays he appeared in, if a character is the leader in one play and then returns for another, they won't be the group leader in their next appearance.
• Real Event, Fictional Cause: Invoked; The Touken Danshi's missions involve going back in time and correcting history after the Historical Retrograding Army tampers with it, and sometimes before the tampering begins. In these cases, the Touken Danshi end up being the causes of or majorly contributing to these historical events in the first place, although they have to be careful to keep their presences out of the history books.
• Rated M for Manly: Say hello to the "Otokomichi" sequence! Not only is the sequence introduced with the very cool and manly historical figures doing a taiko drum performance, but the song itself is a love letter to the hard and arduous path of masculinity, and when performed in concert remains one of the few songs where the Toudan strip into a more revealing outfit. In later performances, the song will change ("Kemono", "Kanki no Hana", etc.), but the theme of the song will often be the same.
• Revolving Door Casting: No cast is completely consistent from play to play, even with returning characters.
• Running Gag:
  • Kashuu and Yamamtonokami fighting over who gets animal tending duty.
  • Izuminokami's haikus.
  • Ishikirimaru being a terrible artist.
  • In the concerts, Kashuu's confusion during the "who skipped training" punishment game. Also the punishment game itself has been used in multiple musicals.
• Schrödinger's Canon:
  • In addition to the main story musicals and Tanki and Souki performances, there are a variety of special performances such as the Shinken Ranbusai, which are essentially concert episodes, anniversary performances, and Uta Awase, which is a series of plays inside a play. Each of these has a separate plot that typically doesn't conflict with the main story, but because characters who are supposed to be absent due to having gone Kiwame training still participate in these performances, it's unclear where they fit into the narrative or whether they are even meant to be taken as canonical at all. It also doesn't help that many of these performances contradict the canonical dynamics of certain characters, such as Mikazuki and Tsurumaru behaving as if they're on good terms in Kotobuki Ranbu Ongyousai despite their complicated relationship in the main story.
  • Arguably, the second acts of the main story are questionably canon as well. While an excuse was made for why the characters dress up and perform all the way back in Atsukashiyama Ibun, as the series progresses these performances make less and less sense in the context of the stories that precede them, and at times they outright ignore what happens in the story, as well as the relationship dynamics between certain characters. There's also the fact that the historical figures return to the stage and perform with the Touken Danshi, which is neither explained nor addressed.
• Seinen: After being serialized in Manga, the musicals are treated as targeted to the Seinen demographic^note College-aged Japanese men, which, despite the fanservice, isn't surprising given the subject matter.
• Set Switch Song: The historical figures return to the stage during the Live segments to play perform short songs that allow the sets to be moved around and give the Touken Danshi actors an opportunity to take a break and change costumes before the show's closing rendition of the theme song, "Touken Ranbu."
• Sexy Backless Outfit: A number of the stripped down versions of the idol outfits have exposed backs, which the actors take full advantage of in their post-performance photoshoots.
• Ship Tease: While this is less common in the main story for a variety of reasons, the fanservice aspects of the live segments capitalize on it, with scenes ranging from popular pairs engaging in shippy choreography to characters most viewers would never have considered pairing together teasing one another for the enjoyment of the audience.
• Shown Their Work: Instead of focusing solely on popular history, the musicals also explore lesser-known/discussed historical events and individuals surrounding the families who originally owned the Touken Danshi when they were still swords.
• Silly Love Songs: The musicals have a few of them. "Your Song" is definitely a sort of platonic love song to the Danshi's master. They sing more conventional love songs, like "Blink", "Tokenai Mahou", and "MISTAKE", in the post-play concerts. "Endless Night" also has lovey dovey lyrics about the subject giving the Mikazuki's existence meaning and him wanting to stay by their side forever.
• Sixth Ranger: Often in the shows, there will be one member of the team that doesn't tie in to the overall timeline or group dynamic. Sometimes they will be the leader of the expedition, but just as often it will be one of the teammates:
  • Kashuu and Hachisuka play this role in Atsukashiyama Ibun and Bakamatsu Tenrouden respectively, for being the lone Bakamatsu-era sword in a group of Heian era weapons in the first case and having nothing to do with the Shinsengumi besides being the basis of a Shinsengumi sword in the second case.
  • Tomoegata is assigned to lead a team of Shinsengumi swords (Yamatonokami, Izuminokami, Nagasone, and Horikawa) and one sword that was not used by a Shinsengumi member but had a master who was historically associated with them (Mutsunokami) despite having nothing to do with the Shinsengumi himself.
  • Both Oodenta Mitsuyo and Suishinshi Mitsuhide, who debuted in Tokyo Kokoro Oboe with two Gou swords, follow them into Gou on Stage, which, as the Pun-Based Title implies, is a Gou sword-centric musical.
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad:
  • The Live segments of each main installment typically only have two solo songs (Kishou Hongi had three), which are usually reserved for the most popular characters in each installment regardless of what they did in the story. Solos aren't limited to once per character, either; some characters have been gotten a solo for every musical appearance they've made so far, bypassing others who have only ever been featured in duets and group songs.
  • Kashuu Kiyomitsu in the early years of Tou Myu thanks to the combined popularity of the character and the star power of the actor portraying him:
    • He was the first Touken Danshi to receive a solo concert performance, with three events over three years, the last of which was a tour across Asia.
    • He was the central character of the very first Shinken Ranbusai event, in which he had to choose whether he loved the Sanjou or Shinsengumi more.
    • He also headlined the event Musical Touken Ranbu: Touken Danshi 2-Shots with Kashuu Kiyomitsu during Music Station ULTRA SUPER LIVE 2019.
    • Kashuu has performed a solo in nearly all of the major installments he has appeared in ("Tokenai Mahou" in Atsukashiyama Ibun, "Koto no Hana" in Atsukashiyama Ibun 2018 Paris, "Blue Light" in Bakamatsu Tenrouden 2020, and his solo in Michi no Oku, Hitotsu wa Chisu). So far, the only performance he hasn't had a solo in is the first run of Bakamatsu Tenrouden, where he performs a duet with Yamatonokami Yasusada instead.
  • Also, the Gou school as a whole:
    • Following Kotegiri's debut in Kishou Hongi, the remaining Gou swords had consecutive debuts in the musical continuity: Matsui and Kuwana in Uta Awase^note Whichever one appeared depended on which performance you went to, Buzen in Paraiso, and Samidare and Murakumo in Tokyo Kokoro Oboe, despite the fact that the last two were introduced in the browser game shortly before the plays performance.^note Samidare was released as an event reward in December 2020, while Murakumo was an event reward in February 2021. The play was first performed in March 2021.
    • With the announcement of Gou on Stage, they become the second school in the series, following Sanjou, to receive a play dedicated to their school, although unlike Atsukashiyama Ibun, Gou on Stage isn't considered a main installment and is treated like a side story similar to the Tanki and Souki performances.
    • Tokyo Kokoro Oboe was the first play in the series to feature eight Touken Danshi instead of six, with four slots occupied by Gou swords, Buzen, Kuwana, Samidare, and Murakumo. This is especially noteworthy because the play was set up to explain the gradually unfolding overarching story involving Mikazuki Munechika, which had been hinted at in previous musicals. The play's use of Suishinshi and Minamoto can be explained by their connections to the abandoned world plot, and Oodenta is related to Mikazuki as one of the Tenka Goken, and Sohayanotsurugi is related to him. However, the Gou swords have no personal connection to Mikazuki, no interactions with him, and no prior involvement in the overarching story, with Samidare and Murakumo in particular appearing to be added to the line-up solely for the purpose of being introduced into the musical continuity. This makes the end of the play, when Mikazuki assigns them significant roles, seem arbitrary because there is no explanation for why he chose them other than them being there at the time.
• Subordinate Excuse: When it comes to safeguarding history, the Saniwa frequently puts the Touken Danshi through hardships, even sending some of them to time periods where there is still trauma present because he knows their memories will be useful there. But aside from this, he is still very much a Benevolent Boss whose kindness inspired the Touken Danshi to follow him without question.
• Summon Backup Dancers: Only during the Live segments. Ensemble members appear out of nowhere and not only dance, but wordlessly interact with the Touken Danshi.
• Super-Strength: All of the Touken Danshi are inherently stronger and tougher than humans, with the Historical Revisionists only coming close, if not matching them, although sometimes even they are useless against the older, more experienced Touken Danshi, who can easily dispatch them unless they're outnumbered. The only creatures truly capable of giving the Touken Danshi a tough time are the Kebiishi, which are not only also strong and tough, but are also relentless in their pursuit of anomalies in the timeline once they set their sights on them.
• Supporting Protagonist: The team leaders most of the time. More often than not, the story they appear in is typically centered on the struggle of their teammate(s) while they either support them in their conflict or just go along for the ride. There are some exceptions, such as Kashuu in Atsukashiyama Ibun (even then, his conflict of being an unsuitable team leader was linked to the Imanotsurugi A plot) and Tsurumaru, who was very much the center of Paraiso (though this came after he was shafted as team leader in Kishou Hongi's story).
• Talking Is a Free Action: The enemies don't often attack if the characters are having conversations.
• The Proud Elite: Downplayed with the Tenka Goken, at least among those that appear in the musicals. They're a group of five (well, three at the moment) famous swords known for their legends and beauty, and while Mikazuki in particular exudes dignity, they all have a reputation in the citadel for being tender-hearted and eccentric, which isn't befitting for their status. Still, they command the respect of their fellow swords due to their strength when they actually start acting serious.
• Those Two Guys: Even among the teams, there are characters that are paired off due to being the most familiar with each other in each unit. Notably, among the combos, there's:
  • Mikazuki and Kogitsunemaru
  • Imanotsurugi and Iwatooshi
  • Higekiri and Hizamaru, to the point where they got their own "solo" play
  • Kashuu and Yamatonokami
  • Izuminokami and Horikawa
  • Ookurikara and Tsurumaru, once again landing them their own "solo" performance
• There Are No Therapists: As the musicals progress, it becomes clear that many of the Touken Danshi, particularly veterans Mikazuki Munechika, Tsurumaru Kuninaga, and Yamanbagiri Kunihiro, suffer from severe psychological issues and unprocessed grief, but there seems to be no one they can talk to about their problems, which is exacerbated by the fact that their boss rarely seems to notice their problems in the first place. In some ways, going on missions is therapeutic for the Touken Danshi, as it has seem shown to help them confront and move on from past traumas while forming emotional bonds with other Touken Danshi they were not previously close to; however, in others, such as Tsurumaru Kuninaga and Mikazuki Munechika's cases, it only exacerbates their issues and leads to further mental decline.
• The Time Traveller's Dilemma: This is something the Touken Danshi struggle with on a regular basis, as they have run-ins with their previous masters and other innocent people whom they want to help and, at times, save, but would jeopardize the futures of millions of people as well as the people of that time period due to the creation of abandoned timelines if history fails to be corrected if they changed the past to favor them.
• Timey-Wimey Ball:
  • The fourth installment onward turns the time travel aspect into this. The course of history is described as the flow of a river multiple times; often, this means that they can afford to get away with certain historical events happening slightly differently as long as the outcome is the same, but later on the series reveals every time they go back to an incident, the circumstances are slightly different already and need to be steered in a certain direction to match up with panhuman history. In all of these situations, there is no mention of meeting past selves from previous missions.
• True Companions: The Touken Danshi are most often depicted as being extremely close and trusting of one another, even outside of the groups that form as a result of their shared adventures. This is best illustrated in the cast round-up festivals, where they are free to have fun and engage with each other without having to concentrate on any mission-related drama causing conflicts between them.
• Two-Act Structure: Every major musical has two sections: Honpen, which is the main story, and Live, which sees the Touken Danshi performing as idol singers and interacting with the crowd. The main story is presented first and lasts for roughly two hours, with lives taking place for the final fifty minutes of the (usually) three-hour musicals.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight:
  • With their technicolor hair and eyes, supernaturally beautiful appearances, and out-of-date clothing, the Touken Danshi look aggressively inhuman, yet none of the humans, who look like normal people, seem to notice and the Touken Danshi never make any effort to blend in when they travel to different time periods. In fact, the few times a Touken Danshi's appearance was commented on, it was only in passing (as in Yoshitsune's case in Atsukashiyama Ibun) or to joke that Hyuuga Masamune doesn't look enough like a monkey to be related to Hideyoshi Toyotomi.
  • Even though the human characters are aging, they never seem to notice that the Touken Danshi never age, regardless of how much time they spend in a time period. It's particularly bad in Mihotose, where the Touken Danshi help in raising a human child to adulthood and none of the recurrent human characters acknowledge their perpetual youth. Tsurumaru and Ookurikara also walk through Date Masamune's entire life in their Souki and interact with him throughout, and while they initially try to conceal their identities from him after their first encounter with him in his childhood, they eventually give up and interact with him normally.
• The Voice: The Saniwa in the main story is never seen by the audience, only speaking to the Touken Danshi as a disembodied voice at the start and end of each play.
• Voluntary Shape Shifter: Historical revisionists are shown to take on any disguise that’s beneficial to their mission. In Bakamatsu, one takes the form of a cat, while in Musubi, they take on human disguises, although they still retain their grayscale appearances.
  • In the 2020 rerun of Bakamatsu, Mikazuki is retconned into being the cat shapeshifter instead, suggesting that he somehow has this power.
• Wham Episode: Tokyo Kokoro Oboe, which serves to confirm that the musicals are Not So Episodic and kind of, sort of, answers the question of just what the heck Mikazuki Munechika has been up to throughout the story.
• A Wild Rapper Appears!: Series staple "MISTAKE" counts on a few people to come in with their rap verses after the first chorus.
• World of Ham: Everyone's just as loud and passionate as the person next to them. Scenery flies off the shelves practically every second.
• Year Inside, Hour Outside: The characters traveling back in time seems to operate by this logic, as they can spend decades in the past and then return to the present where barely any time seems to have passed for those in the citadel.

Honmaru Hana Koyomi

• Audio Play: It's a 12 episode series of audio plays to commemorate Musical Touken Ranbu's seventh anniversary. The episodes are only available through paid membership on the official website and are released once per month with limited period to listen to them before they're removed. After the unexpected 13th episode was released, a CD containing all of the episodes in the series was announced for preorder.
• Bonus Episode: The series was originally advertised as having 12 episodes, but a final, 13th episode was released to serve as a sort of prequel to the play Michi no Oku, Hitotsu wa Chisu, which would premiere the following month. invoked
• Cerebus Syndrome: After 12 episodes of mostly lighthearted shenanigans in the citadel, the 13th episode suggests that not all is well in the citadel, particularly in regards to Tsurumaru's mental health and Mikazuki's mysterious absence from the citadel.
• Ensemble Cast: Each episode focuses on a different set of Touken Danshi, though some lineups aren't entirely unique, as some Touken Danshi, such as Suishinshi, appear in multiple episodes.
• Flashback: In the thirteenth episode, Tsurumaru reminisces on the time he and Mikazuki admired the plum blossom tree they planted together.
• Flower Motifs: Each episode focuses on a different type of flower that grows in the citadel, with the story of the featured Touken Danshi in each episode being based around it.
• Friend to All Living Things: In Hanamoyomi chapter 9: Cosmos, the Touken Danshi, but mainly Onimaru, nurse an injured swallow back to health.
• Loose Canon: It's unclear just how canon these audio dramas are despite being released on the official website, given that episode 13 may have been contradicted by the events of Michi no Oku, Hitotsu wa Chisu, despite it being subtly advertised as a prelude to the play.
• Meaningful Name: Onimaru names the swallow he helped nurse back to health Akizakura, which translates to "Cosmos" in Japanese. "Cosmos" is also the episode's title and main flower theme.
• Slice of Life: Instead of going on sorties like in the main story, the stories here focus on the Touken Danshi's daily lives, which are low on stress and drama. They plant flowers, help an injured bird recover, play with sparklers, and so on.