Concepts of Each Sword According to the Touken Ranbu Movie’s Stunt Coordinator
(This is a summarized translation of “Keypoint 3: Action” in Ginmaku no Touken Danshi, the behind the scenes special of the Touken Ranbu movie. The comments were made by Hibari Daisuke, the movie’s stunt coordinator.)
♔ Mikazuki Munechika - Fights with grace and beauty. His movements are akin to Nichibu (which, according to Wikipedia, “refers to a few dance genres such as kabuki buyō performed in theatre, and Kamigata mai that encompasses the style of dancing performed by geisha .”). And even when he’s in a pinch, he still seems like he’s got a handle on the situation.
♔ Yamanbagiri Kunihiro - Has a sword and a metal scabbard; He’s not exactly dual wielding but he could cut down enemies with his sword and use his scabbard to deal a blow. Some Battoujutsu (a combative quick-draw sword technique) was also incorporated into his fighting style.
♔ Yagen Toushirou - He’s a tantou so he’s a close combat fighter. He gets into his opponent’s space to take them down. His actor is very nimble, so the coordinator gradually added in more soaring jumps to being out more of his potential.
♔ Fudou Yukimitsu - He’s done somersaults and aerial stunts before, so the stunt coordinator incorporated the stunts the actor could do, and some moves similar to Druken Boxing but for a tantou.
♔ Heshikiri Hasebe - At first, the stunt coordinator had a totally different image in mind for Hasebe. Given the sword’s lines (“Oshikiru!” or “Pressure slash!”) and history, he had pegged Hasebe as the epitome of a Japanese period drama (Jidaigeki). When he first presented his idea to his actor, Wada rejected it, saying, “This isn’t what Hasebe’s like. He’s more cavalier, like a knight.” So he decided to rethink the concept. It didn’t feel enough to just make Hasebe’s moves knightly, so he incorporated so Chinese-style sword fighting into Hasebe’s repertoire, and he whirls his sword round and round as he fights.