#itou ittousai

[dkniade]

It may be a far stretch, but I found something interesting regarding a Japanese swordsman and how some Inazuma names might allude to it.

The Japanese swordsman Itou Ittousai (伊藤 一刀斎) was originally called Yagorou (弥五郎).

https://kotobank.jp/word/伊藤一刀斎-31666

He had a swordsmanship technique that was one swift stroke against the attacker. He later named it the Musouken (夢想剣). It was an attack that was delivered spontaneously.

https://kotobank.jp/word/夢想剣-1425131

Gorou’s name (五郎) shares the same kanji and reading as the last two characters in Yagorou (弥五郎). Ya written as 矢 can also mean “arrow”. Is that why Gorou is a bow user…? This might be a coincidence haha

Itto is crossed out because Itto (一斗), Ittou (一刀), and Ito (伊藤) are in fact separate kanji despite the similar pronounciations …

But, what drew my attention initially!

The first two characters in Musouken (夢想剣) shares the same reading and kanji as Raiden Shogun/Ei’s sword technique Mousou no Hito-tachi (夢想の一太刀).

Musou (夢想) here means “dream”. As well, the Musouken is one swift stroke, and Hito-tachi (一太刀) also means “one slash”.

(Musou no Hito-tachi written as 無想の一太刀 has a different meaning. 無想 means “blank mind”.)

[shinobulaughs]

バガボンド

[eiichiro]

[hinomaru6]

[vagavagabond]

[waytooslowly]

Ken Ga Toki

I’m currently into playing Ken ga Toki, which is a mobile josei-muke RPG made by Xiimoon and Rejet. It’s set in the same world as Ken ga Kimi (which I started playing but didn’t get that far in for reasons which I may post about some day) but isn’t an otome game (doesn’t have romance plotlines). Instead the story is about how Himari, a girl from modern Japan, is somehow chosen by a sword god to save what seems like a parallel world Japan (but with youkai and oni, and it’s called Nakatsu no Kuni, not Japan) from the marebito (the inhabitants of the underworld). Her teacher and some other students are also sent to Nakatsu, but you don’t meet them for awhile. Many of the characters are versions of famous historical people, such as Tokugawa Mitsukuni, Matsuo Basho, Yui Shosetsu, Kano Tanyu, Itou Ittousai, etc. For some reason Matsuo Basho is a ninja. 

Like many other mobile RPG, there’s a ton of characters, and you get them via gatcha (although the system is somewhat generous in that on the banners the first twenty pulls guarantees you an SSR, and in my experience you have a fairly good chance of getting the SSR character. (They usually have both an UR and an SSR character with higher rates). But the UR pull rates are brutal, and in about two months of playing, I only have one UR card. That said, this doesn’t really affect your gameplay as much, except that you miss out on some of the unlockable stories and powerups by not having the highest card available for a character. The gameplay is grindy, but since you can eventually auto through it, I didn’t find that much of an issue. 

The story is also being gradually unlocked. The first four chapters were available from the beginning, and the fifth was recently released in Japanese. (The Chinese version, which is ahead, has up to the 6th chapter, but I don’t know Chinese so I have no idea what happens.) Some of how the story is presented is also confusing, because a lot of the characters that are easy to get (SR rarity) haven’t even appeared in the main storyline. 

Although the story is somewhat mcguffiny/fetch-quest (we must collect the various items to unlock the shrine! oh noes, someone stole one of the five sacred swords, we have to go get it back!) I enjoy the characters and the worldbuilding. The interactions between the characters are also frequently hilarious, and the heroine, Himari, has more guts and fighting skill than I expected, although she is the kind of extremely saintly person most otome/josei-muke games have. 

Current progress:  

SR characters:  Have SR cards all except for one

SSR characters:  Have SR cards for all except for Shakushain. Need SSR cards for Daikichi, Moka, Shousetsu, and Francois Caron. 

UR characters:  Only have a UR card for Ruko. Missing SSR cards for Aoi, Hagi Ransetsu, Kugamaru, and Izuna. 

[eiichiro]

[vagavagabond]

[avakian-kun]

Vagabond - バガボンド