Touken Ranbu Kai Kyoden

Touken Ranbu Kai Kyoden is an anime adaptation of the stage play Touken Ranbu: Kyoden Moyuru Honnouji, part of the Touken Ranbu franchise in which famous Japanese swords take human form as Touken Danshi, sword warriors who protect history.

The Touken Danshi are sent into the past to stop the forces of the Time Retrograde Army, who try to alter key events and change the course of history. This time their mission takes them to the Honnouji Incident of 1582, where the warlord Oda Nobunaga met his end in the flames of the temple.

The event is especially painful for several of the swords, as some of them once belonged to Nobunaga and his circle. Protecting history means allowing their former master's death to happen, and the story focuses on how each of them deals with that conflict between loyalty, memory and duty. Based on the stage production, it centers on drama and emotional character moments as much as on sword fighting.