Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu Season 2: Premiere Date, Characters, Plot

Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu is a Japanese fantasy anime television series which is based on a video game named Touken Ranbu. Developed by Nitroplus and DMM Games, the free-to-play collectible card browser game was released exclusively in Japan on January 14, 2015, and it enjoys quite some popularity in the country. A year after the release of the game, famed Japanese anime studio Doga Kobo adapted the game into an anime television series named Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru.

Subsequently, another year later, another anime studio named ufotable announced plans to adapt the show into another anime television series, and Season 1 of Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu premiered in Japan on July 2, 2017. While it was not a critically acclaimed anime show, it still managed to impress fans of the video game and the spin-off anime show released earlier. Since then, fans have been waiting to hear news on a second season and here’s everything we know about Season 2 of Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu.

Katsugeki Touken Ranbu Season 2 Release Date: When will it premiere?

Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu season 1, consisting of 13 episodes, premiered on July 2, 2017 and ran till September 24 of the same year. Although a considerable amount of time has passed since then, a second season has not been announced yet.

Now, normally there would be no need to worry since season 1 aired not long time ago, but as far as we are aware, Katsugeki Touken Ranbu is not set to have a second season, primarily owing to its convoluted plot and the need to develop a new plot for a new season. 

While this is indeed disheartening, the good news is that an anime theatrical movie based on the show is under production. However, no tentative release date has been announced for the movie and it remains to be seen when it premieres. Since there’s no upcoming season of the show, we’ll keep an eye out for news on the release date of the movie and we’ll update this section as soon as we hear something reliable. Meanwhile, if we hear anything on Katsugeki Touken Ranbu season 2, we will also let you know.

Katsugeki Touken Ranbu English Dub:

For those who like watching anime shows in English, the good news is that Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu received an English dub shortly after release. The bad news, however, is that the English seems to be unavailable on any legal streaming sites. That being said, there’s definitely a chance of such legal streaming sites picking the English dub up for streaming in the near future. Meanwhile, if you want to watch the show, you can find the original Japanese version with English subtitles on Amazon Prime Video and Crunchyroll.

Read more in anime preview: Ms. Vampire who lives in my neighborhood

Katsugeki Touken Ranbu Plot:

While the overarching setting of the show is in the distant future – in the year 2205, most of the events in the show take place in 19th century Japan and is a fictionalized account of the conditions in the country then.

In 1863, Izuminokami Kanesada and his partner, Horikawa Kunihiro, arrive in Edo from the future and finds Japan split between anti-shogunate and pro-shogunate factions, which are waging a war. Being humanoid manifestations of the famous swords of Hijikata Toshizou, Izuminokami and Horikawa are tasked with finding the Time Retrograde Army and prevent it from finding an artifact that has the power to change the course of history.

Soon, Izuminokami and Horikawa enlist the help of other sword warriors, namely, Tonbokiri, Yagen Toushirou, Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki, and Tsurumaru Kuninaga, and together, they set out to fight the Time Retrograde Army and ensure that history runs its rightful course.

Katsugeki Touken Ranbu Characters:

Katsugeki/Touken has a long list of characters and a handful of them are important to the plot of the show. Below, we’ve provided you with brief descriptions of each of the important characters in the show.

[WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD]

Izuminokami Kanesada: One of the two central characters in the show, Izuminokami is the humanoid manifestation of the uchigatana used by Hijikata Toshizou and forged by Kanesada, a legendary blacksmith from the late shogunate era. Being a manifestation of one of Toshizou’s blades, Izuminokami shares some characteristics with the legendary hero who once wielded the sword.

Horikawa Kunihiro: The other central character in the show, Horikawa is Izuminokami’s partner and the humanoid manifestation of the washikazi or short sword used by Hijikata Toshizou. In spite of being the manifestation of a legendary blade, Horikawa has a very domestic personality and enjoys doing household chores like cooking, cleaning, and laundry.

Tonbokiri: Tonbokiri is the manifestation of a yari or a Japanese spear wielded by Masazane Fujiwara. One of the Three Great Spears of Japan, Tonbokiri the spear was reputed to be so sharp that it split a dragonfly in half when it landed on the blade. Tonbokiri is shown to be honest and sincere and is mostly assigned missions in the Sengoku era.

Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki: The manifestation of a sword carried by Sakamoto Ryōma, Mutsunokami is a famed sword warrior who helps Izuminokami and Horikawa.

Tsurumaru Kuninaga: The manifestation of a tachi or a samurai sword, Tsurumaru has the name of a swordsmith from Heian era engraved on him. Always dressed in white, Tsurumaru has a witty and whimsical personality. However, he is a fearsome warrior and comes to the aid of Izuminokami and Horikawa in their fight against the Time Retrograde Army.

Yagen Toushirou: The final main character in the show, Yagen is another sword warrior. Calm and experienced, he is a terrific warrior and is among the group of warriors who help Izuminokami and Horikawa in their battle against the Time Retrograde Army.

Read more in anime preview: How Not to Summon a Demon Lord

SPONSORED LINKS