Bakumatsu (2018 Anime)

Bakumatsu (2018 Anime)—A Historical Sword Fantasy Depicted by Bakumatsu Swordsmen and the "Jishingi"

BAKUMATSU (2018, a 12-episode TV anime produced by Studio Deen) is a historical fantasy battle series set in the Bakumatsu period, an era when Japanese swords were most practically employed in recorded Japanese history. Characters modeled after the real historical figures Takasugi Shinsaku and Katsura Kogoro use the power of the "Jishingi" (時辰儀), a pocket watch device possessing the ability to transcend space and time, to prevent alterations to history.

### The Bakumatsu Era—The Final Period of Japanese Swords in Active Combat

The Bakumatsu period (1853–1868) was the final era in which Japanese swords were extensively used as practical weapons in combat. The sword battles of the Shinsengumi during the Ikedaya Incident (1864), hand-to-hand combat in the Toba-Fushimi Battle (1868), and the use of swords by activists and ronin throughout the country—these represent the final historical instances in which Japanese swords functioned as samurai combat weapons.

The Bakumatsu period, which serves as the setting for this work, marks the twilight of the practical age of swords and precedes the Edict on the Abolition of the Wearing of Swords (1876), which would transform Japanese swords from practical weapons into "artworks and symbolic implements."

### Takasugi Shinsaku and Katsura Kogoro—Real Historical "Swordsman Activists"

Takasugi Shinsaku (1839–1867) and Katsura Kogoro (1833–1877), the historical figures who modeled this work, were both activists trained in swordsmanship. Takasugi Shinsaku was a master of Yagyu Shinkage-ryu with full transmission, while Katsura Kogoro was an accomplished swordsman who served as head instructor at the Shinto Munen-ryu Saito dojo.

Shinto Munen-ryu is a school of swordsmanship that developed in the late Edo period and is recognized as a major martial tradition of the Bakumatsu era, alongside Kagami Shinmyoji-ryu and Tennen Rishin-ryu (the school practiced by the Shinsengumi). The characters in this work embody the distinctive Bakumatsu archetype of the "swordsman activist"—a warrior who lived through an era by way of the sword.

### The "Jishingi"—A Pocket Watch Transcending Space and Time as a Temporal Gateway

The "Jishingi" (時辰儀), the central device of this work, is conceived as a pocket watch apparatus possessing the power to transcend the space and time of the Bakumatsu era. This setting—wherein the device possesses temporal and spatial power—is rooted in the tradition of supernatural abilities attributed to sacred swords and spirit blades in Japanese sword culture.

The supernatural abilities attributed to legendary blades in myth and tradition—the Kusanagi sword's "power to prevent fire," the Futsu no Mitama sword's "power to transmit divine will," and the Kumo Kiri's "mystical power to cut yokai"—form the cultural foundation for the "supernatural function" embodied by the "Jishingi" in this work.

### Contemporaneity with the Touken Ranbu Boom—2018 Historical Sword Pop Culture

2018, the year this series aired, was when the Touken Ranbu boom (2015–present) was continuing and the pop culture context of "swords × history × characters" had become established. This work is positioned within the pop culture landscape pioneered by Touken Ranbu—wherein swords are personified and centered as protagonists—while differentiating itself through the unique approach of having real historical figures wield the power of swords.

Featuring the Shinsengumi, Hijikata Toshizo, and Kondo Isami, this work occupies a position in the lineage of historical sword pop culture as a series centered on "Bakumatsu swordsmen" that precedes Demon Slayer (2016–present), which would subsequently depict "sword battles" against a Bakumatsu to Meiji period backdrop.

### Perspective for Sword Collectors

Bakumatsu (2018 Anime), by presenting three elements of historical authenticity—the Bakumatsu era as a period of practical sword combat, Shinto Munen-ryu as an actual martial tradition, and the relationship between activists and swords—within the framework of historical fantasy, offers sword collectors a perspective on "the historical context of late shinkatana through Bakumatsu blades." Set during the "final era of Japanese swords as practical weapons" before the Edict on the Abolition of the Wearing of Swords, while simultaneously depicting the supernatural and symbolic dimensions of the sword, this work functions as a cultural text that embodies the transition of Japanese swords from practical implements to artworks.