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* AnimeChineseGirl: Meow and her childhood friend Mei. In Japan, they are the only ones wearing UsefulNotes/{{Qipao}} and using martial arts.
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* ChineseGirl: Meow and her childhood friend Mei. In Japan, they are the only ones wearing UsefulNotes/{{Qipao}} and using martial arts.
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* TheAdventureContinues: The last episode ends like all the others; the pair walking into the sunset.
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* TheAdventureContinues: AndTheAdventureContinues: The last episode ends like all the others; the pair walking into the sunset.
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* CasualDangerDialog: Overlaps with ExcuseMeWhileIMultiTask; Ran throws thugs around while hitting up Meow for lodging cash. Meow has been imprisoned in a dungeon and Ran's breaking in.
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* CasualDangerDialog: CasualDangerDialogue: Overlaps with ExcuseMeWhileIMultiTask; Ran throws thugs around while hitting up Meow for lodging cash. Meow has been imprisoned in a dungeon and Ran's breaking in.
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* ChineseGirl: Meow and her childhood friend Mei. In Japan, they are the only ones wearing {{Qipao}} and using martial arts.
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* ChineseGirl: Meow and her childhood friend Mei. In Japan, they are the only ones wearing {{Qipao}} UsefulNotes/{{Qipao}} and using martial arts.
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** Mei wears a tight-fitting {{Qipao}}, a style of clothing that was only invented in the 1920s.
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** Mei wears a tight-fitting {{Qipao}}, UsefulNotes/{{Qipao}}, a style of clothing that was only invented in the 1920s.
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''Carried by the Wind: Tsukikage Ran'' (''Tsukikage Ran'') is an anime series directed by Akitaro Daichi (who also gave us ''[[Manga/{{Kodocha}} Kodocha]]'', ''Anime/JubeiChan'', ''Manga/FruitsBasket'', and ''Anime/NowAndThenHereAndThere''), that aired for 13 episodes in 2000. It follows a basic adventure formula, with different settings, villains and people to help in every episode. The series derives most of its strength from the often humorous and dynamic interaction between Ran and Meow, who could be seen as {{lovely angels}} with a twist.
to:
''Carried by the Wind: Tsukikage Ran'' (''Tsukikage (''Kazemakase Tsukikage Ran'') is an anime series directed by Akitaro Daichi (who also gave us ''[[Manga/{{Kodocha}} Kodocha]]'', ''Anime/JubeiChan'', ''Manga/FruitsBasket'', and ''Anime/NowAndThenHereAndThere''), that aired for 13 episodes in 2000. It follows a basic adventure formula, with different settings, villains and people to help in every episode. The series derives most of its strength from the often humorous and dynamic interaction between Ran and Meow, who could be seen as {{lovely angels}} with a twist.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
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Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:332:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/meow_ran.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:332:Meow and Ran]]
''Carried by the Wind: Tsukikage Ran'' (''Tsukikage Ran'') is an anime series directed by Akitaro Daichi (who also gave us ''[[Manga/{{Kodocha}} Kodocha]]'', ''Anime/JubeiChan'', ''Manga/FruitsBasket'', and ''Anime/NowAndThenHereAndThere''), that aired for 13 episodes in 2000. It follows a basic adventure formula, with different settings, villains and people to help in every episode. The series derives most of its strength from the often humorous and dynamic interaction between Ran and Meow, who could be seen as {{lovely angels}} with a twist.
Ran is a young female {{ronin}} with an unmatched degree of swordsmanship. She wanders through Japan, looking for thrills and a steady supply of good saké[[note]] (rice-wine, in case you didn't know)[[/note]]. One day she runs into Meow, a somewhat younger girl who has tremendous skill in Chinese martial arts and a lust for strife matching her own. Together they wind up in all kinds of adventures, ranging from skirmishes with the {{yakuza}} to helping clueless parents to duking it out with an overgrown European woman.
The series was licensed in North America by Creator/{{Bandai|Entertainment}}, but no one seemed to realize it at the time and it quickly went out-of-print.
----
!!Tropes:
* {{Acrofatic}}: [[spoiler:Meow's supposed CriminalDoppelganger]] is surprising nimble for a blimp.
* ActionGirl: ''Both'' Ran and Meow, especially when the fighting starts. Whether or not they make LovelyAngels is questionable since they usually tend to split up in a fight.
* TheAdventureContinues: The last episode ends like all the others; the pair walking into the sunset.
* {{Aesop}}: Mei gives one in universe (basically SocialDarwinism) but the episode itself gives a counter one (greed self-destructs).
* AloofDarkHairedGirl: Ran fits all the qualifications, especially aloof. This is usually given away by her voice but edging close to {{Bifauxnen}}, considering an old woman is reminded of her son after meeting her.
* AmbiguouslyBi: Meow. She shows attraction to handsome men, but she's also seen ogling pretty girls from time to time.
%%* AnimeAccentAbsence: Meow, Stephanie and Mei.
* AscendedFangirl: Stephanie wants to be a samurai because she's read about them.
%%* BadassAndBaby: It happened once with Meow.
* BadassInDistress: Meow is a skilled fighter but she's handed the DistressBall on occasion, which offers Ran a chance to kick butt. [[DamselOutOfDistress As soon as Meow gets free, she joins Ran in beating up the bad guys.]]
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Ran and Meow never appear dirty or unkempt after fighting or walking through the countryside for days. Even if it rains a lot and they lack food. The closest they get to battle injuries is Ran getting her hair ribbon cut, which only makes her long hair sprawl in a fetching manner.
* BerserkButton: Do ''not'' mess with Ran's sake if you don't want a fight.
* BigEater: Ran. It's justified since poverty gives you few chances to eat well. The massive Stephanie is also this. Meow dislikes the possibility of having to provide money for ''two'' {{Big Eater}}s.
* BloodlessCarnage: When Ran hacks up bad guys there is no blood (or even clothing damage), yet when [[spoiler:Mei is stabbed in the side]] a huge bloodstain appears on her dress.
* BoisterousBruiser: Stephanie loudly proclaims her stereotypical views of Japan and its people, but she's unambiguously the strongest character in the series, and she has come closer to defeating Ran than anyone else.
* BraidsOfAction: Meow always wears her hair in braids and is a martial artist whose competence is only surpassed by Ran.
* BrokeEpisode: Ran frequently runs out of cash. One episode begins with her sprawled out on the road, weak with hunger after not having eaten for several days.
* CatchPhrase
** "I am just a beautiful traveler." Ran sure is modest.
** Ran also proclaims: "Utterly inexcusable."
** "I'M SO PISSED OFF!" and "Wait up!" for Meow.
* CatGirl: Despite lacking the ears, Meow tends to make a cat-like impression, especially when fighting. Plus, ya know, her name is MEOW.
* CasualDangerDialog: Overlaps with ExcuseMeWhileIMultiTask; Ran throws thugs around while hitting up Meow for lodging cash. Meow has been imprisoned in a dungeon and Ran's breaking in.
* ChineseGirl: Meow and her childhood friend Mei. In Japan, they are the only ones wearing {{Qipao}} and using martial arts.
* CloudCuckoolander: Stephanie is as spaced out as she is big. She thinks everyone in Japan is either a geisha, a samurai, or a ninja. When she finds people who don't fit these roles, she tries to reconcile them as combinations like Geisha-Ninja or Samura-Ninja.
* TheComicallySerious: Ran when she's indignantly muttering, "Utterly inexcusable."
* ColorCodedCharacters: Ran, one of the two heroes, wears a white hakama. Many of her opponents, including her EvilTwin, wear black. Meow wears pink and is much girlier than her partner.
%%* CreditsMontage
* CriminalDoppelganger: One episode deals with two female bandits (a swordswoman and a martial artist) who have escaped from a prison island and are killing people. Ran and Meow apparently fit their descriptions and the village they're passing though tries to apprehend them. It turns out that the swordswoman very much looks like Ran. Meow's counterpart [[spoiler:looks nothing like her]].
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Meow mostly talks and acts before she thinks, hiding well her skill in martial arts.
* CrucifiedHeroShot: Meow when she's about to be [[spoiler:literally crucified]] in the 12th episode.
* CurbStompBattle: Any battle Ran takes part in will end quickly.
* CycleOfVengeance: Ran warns about this trope at the end of the 11th episode; eventually you're the bad guy.
-->'''Ran''': Well? Don't you agree that murder to avenge murder is silly? One murders the other, on and on... It never ends. End this foolishness now. If you insist upon killing this man, do it. Then his children will be out to kill you. If it comes to that, I won't let them. I, Tsukikage Ran, will kill you on their behalf. Then the killing for revenge will end in a draw, hmm?
* DarkActionGirl: The two female bandits (a ronin and a martial artist), whom Ran and Meow are mistaken as, are just as capable fighters as them. Mei also fights evenly against Meow.
* DeadpanSnarker: As early as the first scene, Ran is telling off a group of mooks for disturbing her nap on a beautiful day.
* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler:Mei is stabbed from behind by a samurai addict who came to have more of her drug and was taken out by her. Also, this happens after she has chided Meow and Ran of not killing off her henchmen they had taken out, saying that sparing them will cost them their lives.]]
* DistaffCounterpart: Ran is considered similar to [[Manga/RurouniKenshin Kenshin Himura]] but there's one big difference; she is ''not'' a TechnicalPacifist nor is she atoning for anything. She knows non-lethal techniques like when she slapped a woman with the flat of her blade but she does not care to use it every time.
* DoorstopBaby: Meow is stuck with a baby in one episode.
* TheDrifter: Both Ran and Meow wander from town to town.
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Ran is pretty popular with the ladies.
* EvilCounterpart: Ran and Meow encounter two female bandits who happened to be a ronin and a martial artist. While the ronin certainly qualified as Ran's counterpart (both in skill and appearance), Meow was shocked and then irritated to learn that the martial artist (as skilled as Meow) was [[spoiler:a dumpy middle-aged woman]].
* FightingFingerprint: Junzaburo's status as Ran's mentor is shown by their shared fighting stance.
* ForGreatJustice: Meow will fight anyone for this reason. She even calls herself "The Beauty of Justice".
* GeniusDitz: Meow acts ''very'' ditzy, except when she's fighting.
* GenkiGirl: Meow has a great deal of energy and is cheerful to contrast the deadpan Ran.
* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Ran would rather spend her last coin on sake than on ''food''. It's arguable whether she's a HardDrinkingPartyGirl or a full-on [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]]. Meow is a straighter example because she only drinks during a feast or other such 'party' occasion.
%%* HeroicNeutral: Ran regularly.
%%%%%%%%% Such as?
%%%%%* IaijutsuPractitioner: Already in the opening, Ran is shown to be this.
* InvincibleHero: Ran never faces an opponent depicted as a serious challenge. Stephanie came the closest to doing so.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ran is aloof, sarcastic and mostly concerned about having sake, food or solace at handy. However, she does help out if she considers people to be unable to solve the problem by themselves.
* JidaiGeki: Fits the genre (wandering samurai adventures etc.), though the actual time frame is ambiguous.
** Given Stephanie, it must be after Europeans established contact (1543), but before Japan was closed off (1641), assuming a minimal level of realism.
*** Hiraga Gennai (1729-1779), also known as the electric guy from ''Anime/ReadOrDie'', shows up in one episode.
** Mei wears a tight-fitting {{Qipao}}, a style of clothing that was only invented in the 1920s.
* LargeHam: Meow can be enthusiastic when she introduces herself and other occasions. This involves a louder voice and practiced posing.
* LimitedWardrobe: They have ''one'' outfit and you never see them wash it. Ew. They are apparently immune to all kinds of dirt and grime but Meow's outfit ''does'' show signs of wear and tear around the edges.
* LibationForTheDead: We don't see it, but Ran tells a sake brewer's apprentice that his dead master is the one that deserves his first batch, not her.
* LovelyAngels: As mentioned under action girl this is a DownplayedTrope. They travel together but rarely fight in unison.
* MeaningfulName: Meow's fighting style involves the heavy use of cat-like moves. Appropriately, it's known as ''Nekotekken'', literally "Iron Cat Fist".
* MotiveRant: Once's Mei's business is exposed, she goes on one about why she partook in it.
-->'''Mei''': You dare ask why? Meow, you really are lucky to be so carefree. Do you know what the most important thing is for living? Money. Dad died without being able to see a doctor. Mum died from overwork. Poverty is to blame for everything. If we only had money, they would still be alive today... Strangers offer consolation, but when it comes right down to it, they won't help you. You're the same! What were you doing while I was suffering? You were out on a carefree journey! It all comes down to money. Take a look at this house. How hard do you think I worked? I finally came to this point. Finally. I won't let anyone interfere!
* {{Mooks}}: All their enemies are either this or EliteMooks because they exist for the pair to defeat in action sequences.
* {{Ninja}}: Meow at times is mistaken for one because of her martial arts. Some of the opponents are real ones.
* NoTrueScotsman: The samurai in the 11th episode; the only 'true' samurai in their opinion are samurai that think like them. For instance, they show honor in one scene where they refuse to sneak attack and instead decide on a time and place of neutral favor. Then they attack three to one, even when their opponent reveals himself to be (basically) unarmed. Everyone who doesn't act like this is a 'coward' or a 'maggot'.
* OnceAnEpisode: Meow running after Ran regularly occurs.
* PhenotypeStereotype: Stephanie is a blonde and blue-eyed European.
* PrettyFreeloaders: Ran mooches off Meow all the time.
* RedOniBlueOni : Ran is the blue oni (stoic, deadpan) and Meow is the red oni (cheerful and energetic).
* {{Ronin}}: Ran is a wandering samurai because she doesn't want to work for anyone. The opening theme is about the simple joy of the masterless samurai. "I have my freedom and saké."
* ScamReligion: Episode 8 has the duo encounter a group that scams a village out of their money through supposed religious faith-healer style teachings. Meow falls for it; Ran, being an atheist, doesn't.
* SeriousBusiness: Ran almost caused a fight over watered down sake. "Sake is like blood! You will shed a tear for each drop spilled."
* ShadowArchetype: Meow has one in Mei. They were childhood friends who both studied martial arts (they're nowadays on the same level of skill). While Meow left to seek adventures with merriment and goodwill, Mei worked hard to get out of poverty that took the lives of her parents, but not through honest business.
* ShrinesAndTemples: The pair come across them from time to time. Meow prayed at one for food and instead robbed the collection box.
* SlipknotPonytail: This happens to Ran just before her EvilCounterpart collapses after being defeated from a genuine injury, showcasing the difference in skill (a closer gap than most of Ran's enemies).
* StatusQuoIsGod: Nothing ever changes, but this is justified as the pair are constantly traveling and Ran drinks all their money as fast as she can.
* TheStoic: Ran, when she's in battle mode, is completely serious.
* TeacherStudentRomance: Ran's previous lover was the person who taught her swordcraft, and the joy of sake drinking.
* TitleDrop: "Where should we go next?" "Wherever the wind blows us."
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Taken liberally. The two leads fit, with Ran as the GirlyGirl (graceful and concerned about appearances) and Meow as the {{Tomboy}} (energetic and impulsive).
* TsurimeEyes: In one episode this trope and TaremeEyes served as the visual cue that distinguished the YamatoNadeshiko from the EvilMatriarch. The first had the eyes downward while the second's pointed up.
* VagabondBuddies: This is Ran & Meow's relationship. They travel together "wherever the wind blows us".
* WalkingTheEarth: "Traveling is great."
%%* WronglyAccused: Poor Meow in the 12th episode.
* {{Yakuza}}: They're ''everywhere''. One episode had them controlling the local production of sake.
* YamatoNadeshiko: The mistress of one of the lords fits the bill: elegant, kind, devoted to family and tough as iron, as well as the physical traits like hair style and clothing.
----
[[caption-width-right:332:Meow and Ran]]
''Carried by the Wind: Tsukikage Ran'' (''Tsukikage Ran'') is an anime series directed by Akitaro Daichi (who also gave us ''[[Manga/{{Kodocha}} Kodocha]]'', ''Anime/JubeiChan'', ''Manga/FruitsBasket'', and ''Anime/NowAndThenHereAndThere''), that aired for 13 episodes in 2000. It follows a basic adventure formula, with different settings, villains and people to help in every episode. The series derives most of its strength from the often humorous and dynamic interaction between Ran and Meow, who could be seen as {{lovely angels}} with a twist.
Ran is a young female {{ronin}} with an unmatched degree of swordsmanship. She wanders through Japan, looking for thrills and a steady supply of good saké[[note]] (rice-wine, in case you didn't know)[[/note]]. One day she runs into Meow, a somewhat younger girl who has tremendous skill in Chinese martial arts and a lust for strife matching her own. Together they wind up in all kinds of adventures, ranging from skirmishes with the {{yakuza}} to helping clueless parents to duking it out with an overgrown European woman.
The series was licensed in North America by Creator/{{Bandai|Entertainment}}, but no one seemed to realize it at the time and it quickly went out-of-print.
----
!!Tropes:
* {{Acrofatic}}: [[spoiler:Meow's supposed CriminalDoppelganger]] is surprising nimble for a blimp.
* ActionGirl: ''Both'' Ran and Meow, especially when the fighting starts. Whether or not they make LovelyAngels is questionable since they usually tend to split up in a fight.
* TheAdventureContinues: The last episode ends like all the others; the pair walking into the sunset.
* {{Aesop}}: Mei gives one in universe (basically SocialDarwinism) but the episode itself gives a counter one (greed self-destructs).
* AloofDarkHairedGirl: Ran fits all the qualifications, especially aloof. This is usually given away by her voice but edging close to {{Bifauxnen}}, considering an old woman is reminded of her son after meeting her.
* AmbiguouslyBi: Meow. She shows attraction to handsome men, but she's also seen ogling pretty girls from time to time.
%%* AnimeAccentAbsence: Meow, Stephanie and Mei.
* AscendedFangirl: Stephanie wants to be a samurai because she's read about them.
%%* BadassAndBaby: It happened once with Meow.
* BadassInDistress: Meow is a skilled fighter but she's handed the DistressBall on occasion, which offers Ran a chance to kick butt. [[DamselOutOfDistress As soon as Meow gets free, she joins Ran in beating up the bad guys.]]
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Ran and Meow never appear dirty or unkempt after fighting or walking through the countryside for days. Even if it rains a lot and they lack food. The closest they get to battle injuries is Ran getting her hair ribbon cut, which only makes her long hair sprawl in a fetching manner.
* BerserkButton: Do ''not'' mess with Ran's sake if you don't want a fight.
* BigEater: Ran. It's justified since poverty gives you few chances to eat well. The massive Stephanie is also this. Meow dislikes the possibility of having to provide money for ''two'' {{Big Eater}}s.
* BloodlessCarnage: When Ran hacks up bad guys there is no blood (or even clothing damage), yet when [[spoiler:Mei is stabbed in the side]] a huge bloodstain appears on her dress.
* BoisterousBruiser: Stephanie loudly proclaims her stereotypical views of Japan and its people, but she's unambiguously the strongest character in the series, and she has come closer to defeating Ran than anyone else.
* BraidsOfAction: Meow always wears her hair in braids and is a martial artist whose competence is only surpassed by Ran.
* BrokeEpisode: Ran frequently runs out of cash. One episode begins with her sprawled out on the road, weak with hunger after not having eaten for several days.
* CatchPhrase
** "I am just a beautiful traveler." Ran sure is modest.
** Ran also proclaims: "Utterly inexcusable."
** "I'M SO PISSED OFF!" and "Wait up!" for Meow.
* CatGirl: Despite lacking the ears, Meow tends to make a cat-like impression, especially when fighting. Plus, ya know, her name is MEOW.
* CasualDangerDialog: Overlaps with ExcuseMeWhileIMultiTask; Ran throws thugs around while hitting up Meow for lodging cash. Meow has been imprisoned in a dungeon and Ran's breaking in.
* ChineseGirl: Meow and her childhood friend Mei. In Japan, they are the only ones wearing {{Qipao}} and using martial arts.
* CloudCuckoolander: Stephanie is as spaced out as she is big. She thinks everyone in Japan is either a geisha, a samurai, or a ninja. When she finds people who don't fit these roles, she tries to reconcile them as combinations like Geisha-Ninja or Samura-Ninja.
* TheComicallySerious: Ran when she's indignantly muttering, "Utterly inexcusable."
* ColorCodedCharacters: Ran, one of the two heroes, wears a white hakama. Many of her opponents, including her EvilTwin, wear black. Meow wears pink and is much girlier than her partner.
%%* CreditsMontage
* CriminalDoppelganger: One episode deals with two female bandits (a swordswoman and a martial artist) who have escaped from a prison island and are killing people. Ran and Meow apparently fit their descriptions and the village they're passing though tries to apprehend them. It turns out that the swordswoman very much looks like Ran. Meow's counterpart [[spoiler:looks nothing like her]].
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Meow mostly talks and acts before she thinks, hiding well her skill in martial arts.
* CrucifiedHeroShot: Meow when she's about to be [[spoiler:literally crucified]] in the 12th episode.
* CurbStompBattle: Any battle Ran takes part in will end quickly.
* CycleOfVengeance: Ran warns about this trope at the end of the 11th episode; eventually you're the bad guy.
-->'''Ran''': Well? Don't you agree that murder to avenge murder is silly? One murders the other, on and on... It never ends. End this foolishness now. If you insist upon killing this man, do it. Then his children will be out to kill you. If it comes to that, I won't let them. I, Tsukikage Ran, will kill you on their behalf. Then the killing for revenge will end in a draw, hmm?
* DarkActionGirl: The two female bandits (a ronin and a martial artist), whom Ran and Meow are mistaken as, are just as capable fighters as them. Mei also fights evenly against Meow.
* DeadpanSnarker: As early as the first scene, Ran is telling off a group of mooks for disturbing her nap on a beautiful day.
* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler:Mei is stabbed from behind by a samurai addict who came to have more of her drug and was taken out by her. Also, this happens after she has chided Meow and Ran of not killing off her henchmen they had taken out, saying that sparing them will cost them their lives.]]
* DistaffCounterpart: Ran is considered similar to [[Manga/RurouniKenshin Kenshin Himura]] but there's one big difference; she is ''not'' a TechnicalPacifist nor is she atoning for anything. She knows non-lethal techniques like when she slapped a woman with the flat of her blade but she does not care to use it every time.
* DoorstopBaby: Meow is stuck with a baby in one episode.
* TheDrifter: Both Ran and Meow wander from town to town.
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Ran is pretty popular with the ladies.
* EvilCounterpart: Ran and Meow encounter two female bandits who happened to be a ronin and a martial artist. While the ronin certainly qualified as Ran's counterpart (both in skill and appearance), Meow was shocked and then irritated to learn that the martial artist (as skilled as Meow) was [[spoiler:a dumpy middle-aged woman]].
* FightingFingerprint: Junzaburo's status as Ran's mentor is shown by their shared fighting stance.
* ForGreatJustice: Meow will fight anyone for this reason. She even calls herself "The Beauty of Justice".
* GeniusDitz: Meow acts ''very'' ditzy, except when she's fighting.
* GenkiGirl: Meow has a great deal of energy and is cheerful to contrast the deadpan Ran.
* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Ran would rather spend her last coin on sake than on ''food''. It's arguable whether she's a HardDrinkingPartyGirl or a full-on [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]]. Meow is a straighter example because she only drinks during a feast or other such 'party' occasion.
%%* HeroicNeutral: Ran regularly.
%%%%%%%%% Such as?
%%%%%* IaijutsuPractitioner: Already in the opening, Ran is shown to be this.
* InvincibleHero: Ran never faces an opponent depicted as a serious challenge. Stephanie came the closest to doing so.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ran is aloof, sarcastic and mostly concerned about having sake, food or solace at handy. However, she does help out if she considers people to be unable to solve the problem by themselves.
* JidaiGeki: Fits the genre (wandering samurai adventures etc.), though the actual time frame is ambiguous.
** Given Stephanie, it must be after Europeans established contact (1543), but before Japan was closed off (1641), assuming a minimal level of realism.
*** Hiraga Gennai (1729-1779), also known as the electric guy from ''Anime/ReadOrDie'', shows up in one episode.
** Mei wears a tight-fitting {{Qipao}}, a style of clothing that was only invented in the 1920s.
* LargeHam: Meow can be enthusiastic when she introduces herself and other occasions. This involves a louder voice and practiced posing.
* LimitedWardrobe: They have ''one'' outfit and you never see them wash it. Ew. They are apparently immune to all kinds of dirt and grime but Meow's outfit ''does'' show signs of wear and tear around the edges.
* LibationForTheDead: We don't see it, but Ran tells a sake brewer's apprentice that his dead master is the one that deserves his first batch, not her.
* LovelyAngels: As mentioned under action girl this is a DownplayedTrope. They travel together but rarely fight in unison.
* MeaningfulName: Meow's fighting style involves the heavy use of cat-like moves. Appropriately, it's known as ''Nekotekken'', literally "Iron Cat Fist".
* MotiveRant: Once's Mei's business is exposed, she goes on one about why she partook in it.
-->'''Mei''': You dare ask why? Meow, you really are lucky to be so carefree. Do you know what the most important thing is for living? Money. Dad died without being able to see a doctor. Mum died from overwork. Poverty is to blame for everything. If we only had money, they would still be alive today... Strangers offer consolation, but when it comes right down to it, they won't help you. You're the same! What were you doing while I was suffering? You were out on a carefree journey! It all comes down to money. Take a look at this house. How hard do you think I worked? I finally came to this point. Finally. I won't let anyone interfere!
* {{Mooks}}: All their enemies are either this or EliteMooks because they exist for the pair to defeat in action sequences.
* {{Ninja}}: Meow at times is mistaken for one because of her martial arts. Some of the opponents are real ones.
* NoTrueScotsman: The samurai in the 11th episode; the only 'true' samurai in their opinion are samurai that think like them. For instance, they show honor in one scene where they refuse to sneak attack and instead decide on a time and place of neutral favor. Then they attack three to one, even when their opponent reveals himself to be (basically) unarmed. Everyone who doesn't act like this is a 'coward' or a 'maggot'.
* OnceAnEpisode: Meow running after Ran regularly occurs.
* PhenotypeStereotype: Stephanie is a blonde and blue-eyed European.
* PrettyFreeloaders: Ran mooches off Meow all the time.
* RedOniBlueOni : Ran is the blue oni (stoic, deadpan) and Meow is the red oni (cheerful and energetic).
* {{Ronin}}: Ran is a wandering samurai because she doesn't want to work for anyone. The opening theme is about the simple joy of the masterless samurai. "I have my freedom and saké."
* ScamReligion: Episode 8 has the duo encounter a group that scams a village out of their money through supposed religious faith-healer style teachings. Meow falls for it; Ran, being an atheist, doesn't.
* SeriousBusiness: Ran almost caused a fight over watered down sake. "Sake is like blood! You will shed a tear for each drop spilled."
* ShadowArchetype: Meow has one in Mei. They were childhood friends who both studied martial arts (they're nowadays on the same level of skill). While Meow left to seek adventures with merriment and goodwill, Mei worked hard to get out of poverty that took the lives of her parents, but not through honest business.
* ShrinesAndTemples: The pair come across them from time to time. Meow prayed at one for food and instead robbed the collection box.
* SlipknotPonytail: This happens to Ran just before her EvilCounterpart collapses after being defeated from a genuine injury, showcasing the difference in skill (a closer gap than most of Ran's enemies).
* StatusQuoIsGod: Nothing ever changes, but this is justified as the pair are constantly traveling and Ran drinks all their money as fast as she can.
* TheStoic: Ran, when she's in battle mode, is completely serious.
* TeacherStudentRomance: Ran's previous lover was the person who taught her swordcraft, and the joy of sake drinking.
* TitleDrop: "Where should we go next?" "Wherever the wind blows us."
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Taken liberally. The two leads fit, with Ran as the GirlyGirl (graceful and concerned about appearances) and Meow as the {{Tomboy}} (energetic and impulsive).
* TsurimeEyes: In one episode this trope and TaremeEyes served as the visual cue that distinguished the YamatoNadeshiko from the EvilMatriarch. The first had the eyes downward while the second's pointed up.
* VagabondBuddies: This is Ran & Meow's relationship. They travel together "wherever the wind blows us".
* WalkingTheEarth: "Traveling is great."
%%* WronglyAccused: Poor Meow in the 12th episode.
* {{Yakuza}}: They're ''everywhere''. One episode had them controlling the local production of sake.
* YamatoNadeshiko: The mistress of one of the lords fits the bill: elegant, kind, devoted to family and tough as iron, as well as the physical traits like hair style and clothing.
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