Top 10: Cool Swords in Anime

Welcome to our monthly Top 10 anime list.
This month I am going to be looking at some cool and unique swords in anime.  This list isn’t in any particular order I’ve just numbered it for simplicity.

10. Kurikara

A powerful demon slaying sword, Kurikara is said to have had a demon fused inside of it. The sword was originally forged to fend off evil spirits, but later it ended up in the hands of Rin Okumura, the son of Satan. The sword is important to Rin as it holds back his innate demonic power.

(Blue Exorcist)

9. Scissor Blade

One-half of a pair of giant scissors, know as the rending scissors, the red scissor blade is Ryūko Matoi’s weapon of choice when she’s fighting to avenge her father (the scissor’s creator). The second half of the blade wound up in the hands of Nui Harime, Ryūko’s father’s murderer. The scissor blade is almost the only way possible to cut through the life fibres utilized in the Goku uniforms.

(Kill la Kill)

8. Samehada

Shamehada, the shark skin blade, is a very large blade composed of razor-sharp scales. Shamehada is capable of eating the chakra of any who oppose it, not only that but the sword itself is sentient, capable of contorting its body to reach an opponent even if they were to dodge. While normally being wrapped in a cloth lining, Samaehada is eventually unwound to reveal its true power as the strongest of the seven swords of the mist.

(Naruto Shippuden)

7. Yoru

Regarded as one of the strongest swords in the world of One Piece, Yoru stretches over 7 feet in length and the blade is entirely black. In the hands of Dracule Mihawk the sword has the capability of slicing Don Krieg’s flagship in half with just one slash. Mihawk is also capable of deflecting bullets with just the slightest movement.

(One Piece)

6. Archenemy

A traditional looking nodachi, Archenemy, AKA “The Sword of Resentment” is a weapon so fearsome that it is believed that just unsheathing it could cause uncontrollable destruction of a devastating proportion and thus the holder must vow never to break the seal. Kagura Mikazuchi, the sword’s wielder, is able to use Archenemy to defeat her opponents without even unsheathing it. However, she broke her vow during her fight against Erza in the Grand Wizard Games.

(Fairy Tail)

5. Dragon Handle

The dragon handle appears to only by the remnants of a once full sword. While in most cases completely useless as a sword, in the hands of Meliodas the sword becomes a formidable weapon capable of deflecting any attack that comes Meliodas’ way. It is later revealed that the sword is not a sword, but in fact, a piece of the coffin of darkness.

(The Seven Deadly Sins)

4. Claymore

The Claymore it the standardized weapon for all Claymores (an organization of yoma hunters) and has a unique symbol engraved in it that pairs it to its wielder. The sword itself is a quite large, double-edged blade that never seems to ware or dull. Each sword also has a color assigned to its handle, this color describes how the user wields the blade. Red is possessed by offensive users, whereas green is reserved for the more defensive users. However, any claymore ranked 10 and above has a blue handle.

(Claymore)

3. Murasame

Known as the “One Cut Killer”, Murasame is a cursed blade that will kill anyone from even the slightest cut. This is because once the blade cuts the skin, the victim is inflicted with a curse of poison, stopping their heat in a matter of seconds. However, in the hands of Akame, the sword curse in little more than a bonus.

(Akame Ga Kill!)

2. Crow Claw

While not technically being a sword, the crow claw is the manifestation of Senji Kyyomasa’s branch of sin. Being comprised entirely of his blood, Senji is able to pull the claw out from any part of his body and shape it into any size. Senji has spent years mastering his claw and is now capable of slicing through solid steel.

(Deadman Wonderland)

1. Elucidator

The Elucidator is a jet black sword that belongs to the protagonist of Sword Art Online. Along with the “Dark Repulser”, Kirito dual wields the two blades in order to create a devastating combo of quick, hard to counter, barrage of attacks. Kirito received the sword as a reward item for defeating the boss of floor 50, however, he initially did not have enough strength to wield it.

(Sword Art Online)

Thank you for reading my list, I hope you enjoyed it. If you have an idea of something you feel should have been on the list then leave a comment and let me know.

H

Top 10: Badass Women in Anime

Welcome to our monthly Top 10 anime list.
This month I am going to be discussing some badass women in anime.  This list isn’t in any particular order I’ve just numbered it for simplicity.

10. Shiki Ryougi –  the Garden of sinners

Possessing the “Mystic Eyes of Death Perception“, Shiki Ryougi has the unmatched ability to see the death of something and thusly destroy the source. Shiki was raised to have two personalities, one male and one female. Unfortunately, after a car accident left her trapped in a coma for two years, the male personality has since died, leaving only the female half of Shiki. On top of this Shiki feels disconnected to her life before the accident and has since had an unfriendly manner towards others, in an attempt to resurrect her other half.

(the Garden of Sinners)

9. Haruko Haruhara — Fooly Cooly

Despite her appearance, Haruko Haruhara is actually an intergalactic patrol officer. On the hunt for Atomsk; a notorious galactic pirate, She finds herself on earth. With nothing much to do, she busies herself acting as a housemaid for the Nandaba household. She is first introduced through the act of running over the protagonist “Naota“, with a scooter and then bashing him in the head with a bass guitar. She then acts to fight alongside Naota to defeat the Medical Mechanica but only does so so that she can manipulate Naota to get access to Atomsk’s power.

(Fooly Cooly)

8. Nana Osaki – NANA

One of the titular characters of the Nana series. Nana Osaki is the rebellious lead singer of the Black Stones (Blast). She has always been troubled by her past, due to the fact that she was abandoned by her parents at a young age. As a result, Nana has developed an issue of connection. No matter how hard she tries to pull away from those around her, deep down she can’t stand the thought of losing someone else. So instead she decides she will give everything she has to pursue her dream of becoming a professional singer.

(Nana)

7. Rebecca Lee (Revy) – Black Lagoon

Revy was born in America and grew up in the poverty and violence of a china town in New York. Raised by her abusive and alcoholic father. Then after being arrested, Revy was beaten and raped by a corrupt police officer, soon after returning home, she murdered her father. More recently, Revy has been working as a gun for hire aboard the Black Lagoon, mercilessly and skillfully dispatching anyone who stands in the way of her paycheck. Swiftly earning herself the name “Two Hands” for the way she dual wields two Cutlas pistols.

(Black Lagoon)

6. Akame – Akame Ga Kill!

Know across the land as “Akame of the Demon Sword Murasame” is a gifted swords woman who has joined up with the group of rebel assassins in the plot to bring down the crown. Initially, Akame worked for the crown but not by choice. She and her sister were kidnapped and sold to the kingdom to be trained as assassins but not being able to live with the atrocities she was committing Akame defected and has since sworn to get revenge, meanwhile her sister is still an assassin among the crowns ranks.

(Akame Ga Kill!)

5. Black Lotus – Accel World

Although her real name is not known to any, Black Lotus has gained the rank of the Black King in the reality augmenting program Brain Burst. Unfortunately, after a crushing defeat by the Red King and her minions, Black Lotus was forced to go into hiding to retain any chance of reaching level 10 and defeating all “six kings of pure color“. In the real world, she knows throughout Umesato Junior High School as one of the most popular students and also acts the Student Council Vice-President, giving her quite the high status.

(Accell World)

4. Ryuko Matoi – Kill la Kill

The main protagonist of  Kill la Kill, Ryuko Matoi has a fiery temper and a bone to pick. After the death of her father, she began her quest to hunt out his killer and get revenge. She transfers to Honnōji Academy to hunt for the other half of her scissor blade, the means of her father’s demise. However, after almost immediately starting a fight and getting beaten Ryuko finds herself in a bit of a situation. This leads her to the discovery of Senketsu (a sailor suit made of life fibres) and forever changing the history of the world.

(Kill la Kill)

3. Clare – Claymore

No. 47 in the Claymore ranks, Clare would appear to be nothing more than an average at best Claymore whos shoes could be easily filled. However, Clare is unique in the fact that she is the only claymore to have gained her powers from the flesh and blood of a fellow Claymore, rather than the usual way of taking them from a Yoma. In an unforeseeable twist of fate, Clare turns out to be one of the fastest swords in the whole of the ranks of the Claymores. Leading to unimaginable power and being one of the first to become a partially awakened being.

(Claymore)

2. Yoko Littner- Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

Originating from Littner, Yoko is introduced into the show along side the attack of a gunmen on Jeena, Litten’s neighbouring village. It turns out that she has been hunting this particular gunmen with the intent of killing its drivers. She is well recognised for her distinguishing attire along with her impressive arsenal of weaponry. While primarily using a hefty sniper rifle based on the Barrett M82, she has also been known to sport hand guns.

(Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann)

1. Erza Scarlet – Fairy Tail

As one of the almighty few S-Class wizards among the Fairytail ranks, Erza Scarlet has built up the reputation of the undaunted, monstrous warrior, capable of annihilating any foe, earning her the name “Titania, Queen of the Faries“. She specialises in Spatial Magic, allowing her to store various armours and weapons in a void, that she can use whenever she wished. She is also known as being the fasted mage in the world when it comes to requiping her gear. Erza also specialises in sword based combat, having the power to slice through concrete with just the air from her swing. But despite her brave facade, she is tortured by the horrors of her childhood.

(Fairytail)

Thank you for reading my list, I hope you enjoyed it. If you have an idea of something you feel should have been on the list then leave a comment and let me know.

H

Quote of the Day #17

“It’s because I loved her the most that I wanted to kill her as swiftly as possible” Akame, Akame ga Kill!

Akame ga Kill! Review

Akame ga Kill! was released during mid to late 2014. The story follows Tatsumi, a young innocent boy who is in search of fortune to send back to his impoverished village. In a poor twist of fate, Tatsumi looses all his money and is forced to go without food and shelter, luckily for him a young noble woman notices him and insists that he spends the night at her house. During his time with her family, he learns of a guild of deadly assassins called Night Raid, who is hell bent on murdering high-ranking citizens of the empire. During the night the family is visited by Night Raid and, in a bizarre twist, it is revealed that the family has taken pleasure in torturing innocent civilians, including Tatsumi’s friends. He then decides to join Night Raid in their mission to take down the empire.

My Review: I had a lot of fun with this show. First of all the shows reaction based humour works really well to liven up the experience, even if it is simple in its design. The characters aren’t particularly unique but the writing does a great job of building them up over course cours of the show. One thing that I really liked was how we get to build up quite a lot of history with the enemy, and when to comes to the characters dying, I can’t help but fell bad whether its a good guy or a bad guy. The story is pretty solid, however, I did think it kind of lost the whole “silent and sneaky assassin” concept in exchange for overpowered super warriors. Some of the weapons are pretty cool, particularly how a person has to resonate well with imperial arms to weld it, I would have liked to see that aspect get explored a bit more.

I rate this anime 3.5/5.

H