Grenadier/Characters
These are the Characters from the anime series Grenadier.
Main Characters
Rushuna Tendo
Voiced by: Mikako Takahashi (JP), Wendee Lee (EN)
Rushuna is a very busty blonde with extremely impressive gun skills as well as impressive analytical skills. A former candidate for the Juttensen, Rushuna had been charged by Tenshi herself to travel in order to learn the "Ultimate Battle Strategy", to remove an opponent's will to fight. She is joined first by Yajiro and then by Mikan on her way to the capital city of Tento.
...At least, that's how she is in the anime. In the original manga, there is no "Ultimate Battle Strategy" (except this: Win!), no Tenshi (except in the form of the unseen Emperor), and no Tento (it's called simply "the Capital"). She is a rather busty blonde with extremely impressive gun skills, and impressive analytical skills. She is on her way to the Imperial Capital, with the samurai Yajiro Kojima (she calls him Yatchan) in tow, to find information on her unknown homeland.
- Action Girl
- Badass
- Badass Adorable
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Not moron per se, but did you expect such a bubbly woman to be so handy with a revolver?
- Bathing Beauty
- Boobs of Steel
- Cooldown Hug - coupled with Marshmallow Hell.
- Crazy Prepared: Just happened to have special, underwater bullets, making her fight with Suirou a lot easier.
- Curtains Match the Window
- Distaff Counterpart - To Vash the Stampede himself, no less.
- Eyes of Gold
- Fingerless Gloves
- The Gunslinger
- Hair of Gold - Rushuna is a kind soul, but in the original manga, she is practically a child mentally (except in battle).
- Improbable Aiming Skills
- Innocent Fanservice Girl: Heck, her first appearance is calmly having Yajiro hide in her cleavage!
- Lady in Red
- Meaningful Name - Rushuna is a play on a Rushana Buddha, a statue exemplifying the essence of the Buddha, while her surname, Tendou, translates to "Heavenly Path."
- The Messiah - Hey, she is a Distaff Counterpart of Vash...
- Ms. Fanservice
- Nice Hat: A straw hat with a giant red bow on it, no less.
- Obfuscating Stupidity - Some of Rushuna's more oblivious remarks come off as rather snarky if you assume she's just pretending to be a bimbo.
- Red Baron - Throughout the manga, whenever Rushuna does what she does best with her gun, people declare her to be the highest level of senshi, a Grenadier.
- She Cleans Up Nicely
- Unorthodox Reload - Rushuna manages to keep spare bullets - IN HER CLEAVAGE!
Yajiro Kojima
Voiced by: Kazuya Nakai (JP), Sam Riegel (EN)
Yajiro is a mercenary swordsman who first encountered Rushuna while he, along with other swordsmen, was trying to free a lord from an army of Senshi. He joins Rushuna on her way to the Capital.
- Doesn't Like Guns
- Implausible Fencing Powers - Yajiro can slice away bullets with his katana.
- also, in Volume 5, he battles off Bao the Iron Destruction Demon, whose blade the Bakugyuto is rocket-powered.
- Katanas Are Just Better
- Samurai
- Shonen Hair
- Technical Pacifist - He feels that only with a sword can one feel the weight of a human life.
Mikan Kurenai
Voiced by Yuki Matsuoka (JP), Julie Ann Taylor (EN)
A little girl who lost her balloon-making parents to a senshi named Ganzo and his men, Mikan was taken by Touka Kurenai, formerly of the Juttensen, to live at the Peach Blossom Inn. She joins Rushuna and Yajiro on the way to the Capital. She whips up balloons of all sorts to help Rushuna and Yajiro.
- Compressed Hair: Somehow hides a rather impressive mane of spiky hair under her bandana.
- Hyperspace Arsenal - Among her countless balloons, Mikan can produce an inflatable boat, costumes, a glider and even colored doubles of herself.
- Nice Hat: Always has a green bandanna.
- She's All Grown Up - With the use of balloons, Mikan briefly appears to be older than she is, and even does Marshmallow Hell to Yajiro at one point.
- Tagalong Kid
Supporting Characters
Touka Kurenai
Voiced by: Cindy Robinson (EN)
A former member of the Juttensen, Touka gathered several young girls who had been orphaned by strife and war as they opened up a "Pleasure Palace" called the Toukarou (meaning "Peach Blossom Inn"). She wields the Kensousen, a spear with a rounded (but explosive) tip, one of the Ten Sacred Weapons, though she does not see action often, because of a chronic illness.
- Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
- Training from Hell - Her method of training the other members of the Juttensen. It has earned her their ire; whether she knows or not is up to debate.
Ouka Kurenai
The head of the Juttensen, and Touka's younger sister. She wields a magnetic lance capable of reversing the direction of bullets and directing rubble to fly through the air. She and the rest of the Juttensen believe that Touka died out in the frontier because of her illness.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge - Ouka (and the Juttensen's) reaction upon learning from Mikan that Touka is still alive.
- You Gotta Have Pink Hair - According to the cover of Volume 7, this is the colour of her hair.
Teppa Aizen
Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (JP), Doug Erholtz (EN)
A member of the Juttensen, the Gaifu Senshi, specializing in his family's technique, the Adamantine Cloth. In the anime, Teppa was a childhood friend of Rushuna's.
- Chick Magnet - So he assumes of himself.
- Chivalrous Pervert
- Lovable Sex Maniac
- Stoic Spectacles: But of course once Rushuna's in his field of sight...
Tekka Aizen
Teppa's younger sister. She only appears in a bonus segment of the manga, irate over Rushuna's defeat of her big brother.
Sanzou Souma
Voiced by: Fumihiko Tachiki (JP)
A member of the Juttensen, known as the Gagaku Senshi. He wields the Kanonhou, which emits deadly sound waves.
Shin'noshin Hakubi
Voiced by: Kazuki Yao (JP)
The Suiro Senshi, and the Juttensen who guards the Imperial Capital via the lake surrounding it. He communicates when underwater (and, occasionally, above the water) by painting up signs; in other words, communicating through sign language.
- Talking with Signs - His method of underwater communication.
Juzaemon Shiga
One of the Juttensen, he is capable of completely dismantling any weapon placed in front of him, thus giving him the title of the Invincible Senshi. He wears a bunny suit, because he is so handsome that any girl who sees him falls in love instantly.
- Bishonen - And how! That's why he's a...
- Bunny Ears Juttensen - He wears a bunny suit all the time, to prevent girls from glomping him.
- Chick Magnet - What he is when he goes out without wearing his bunny suit.
- Gadgeteer Genius - He has memorised the schematics of every weapon ever made, and uses that in conjunction with his weapon, the Shiga Kaikoken, to dismantle the weapon of any Senshi he faces in battle.
Danjou Ouma
A member of the Juttensen, known as the Nekko Senshi. He wields gloves which enhance his strength greatly.
- Hot-Blooded - He struck his leader, Ouka, when he felt obligated to battling Rushuna.
Honmaru Toujou
The youngest of the Juttensen, an eight-year-old boy in an eight-foot-tall mecha capable of firing missiles and bullets. He is known as the Kiko Senshi.
Yuzuriha Shimon
A young girl just shy of her teens, and another member of the Juttensen. She wields an energy whip, and is known as the Kayaku Senshi.
- Badass Adorable
- Moe - She is very meek when Danjou demands that he, Honmaru, and Yuzuriha get a shot at fighting Rushuna, and timidly cuts in by saying that she didn't speak against Ouka.
Soun Kongo
The founder of the Juttensen, and the master of both Rushuna and Namari, whom he considers to be his daughters. He has a habit of taking pictures of Rushuna and saving them in his (very large) collection of Rushuna pictures. He was blinded at some point after Rushuna set out on her journey by the Iron-Masked Baron.
- Badass Grandpa
- Disability Superpower - Despite being blind, Soun more than capable of handling himself in battle, even managing to defeat Rushuna in their reunion, and effortlessly defeating swarms of the Baron's Shiki (Death Machines). Also, it is implied that his other senses are sharper than others', because he is able to sense the Baron nearby when the others cannot.
Midare Kojima
The head of the Kojima clan, of which Yajiro's family is a branch. After his sister Suguha dies under Yajiro's care, he sets off to avenge his sister by slaying Yajiro. At some point, he acquired an electric sword from a golden-haired foreigner (strongly implied to be the Baron).
- Sword Beam - with electricity. He uses this to ensure that his fight against Yajiro was one-on-one.
Suguha Kojima
Midare's younger sister, and the heir to the Kojima clan. She is left in Yajiro's care, and dies to make sure that Yajiro will be able to live; otherwise, he'd have been unable to climb back up the cliff.
- Heroic Sacrifice
- Moe - she wet herself at the thought of swinging a sword at someone.
King Furon
Voiced by: Yuri Lowenthal (EN)
The king of a small country called Tara in the nation of Banshu. He was enlisted by the Big Bad at the age of seven to become the bearer of the weapon Enlightened Evil (translated as Devil's Light in the manga), which grew in power the more it sapped the user's growth energy. (His subjects assumed this to be a childhood illness.) He used this power to keep his nation protected from "animals" who would invade it, earning the "golden-haired Senshi" a bounty of 3000 gold pieces.
- Meaningful Name - his name (as written in kanji in the manga) means 'Wind Dragon' (a more accurate translation may actually be "Fu Long"). Appropriate, given the power of Enlightened Evil.
- Older Than He Looks - He is actually 17 years old and when the Enlightened Evil/Devil's Light is destroyed, he reverts to his true age.
- Razor Wind - the power of Enlightened Evil.
Koto
A barwoman at a bar in Tara. She befriends Rushuna quickly and is promptly killed in the crossfire of Rushuna and the Baron's first battle (She survives in the anime).
Banmaru Zoushi
A warrior aristocrat from the Imperial Capital, he aids Ganzo Arima in his attempted raid of Toukarou with his Not-So-Humongous Mecha, the Kibanten.
Ganzo Arima (Ganzo Tenma in the anime)
Voiced by: Bob Papenbrook (EN)
A grunt local to Toukarou, who killed Mikan's parents and holds a grudge against Touka.
Akki Nago
Voiced by: Kiyoyuki Yanada (JP), Bob Papenbrook (EN)
A brutish senshi who has a strong sense of money. He wields a tremendous machine gun called a galdo.
Hage Tengu
A long-nosed senshi who intimidates a local village into letting him basically run the village. He wields a gatling gun which fires 200 rounds a minute, called the Rokumonsen.
- Only Known by Their Nickname - His "name" is actually a catcall Rushuna made in the manga (translated officially as "You bald goblin!").
Bao the Iron Destruction Demon
A Goliath of a man who wields a rocket-powered sword called the Bakugyuto. He has a price of 4000 gold pieces on his head. He aids the Anti in their invasion of the Capital.
Lady Tenshi
Voiced by: Chieko Honda (JP)
The Empress of Tento, she was the one who sent Rushuna on her journey. She only appears in the anime.
Antagonists
The Iron-Masked Baron; The Jester, Kaizan Doshi (anime only)
- Big Bad
- Brain In A Cyborg Skeleton - Manga only.
- Cool Mask
- Cyborg - Manga only. Having lost his body in the devastation of trying to replicate the Perpetual Motion Solar Jacket, the Iron-Masked Baron is almost completely robotic. The only organic part of his body that seems to be left is his brain.
- Only Known by Their Nickname - He is never identified in the manga by any name other than Iron-Masked Baron. Averted in the anime, where his identity is almost different enough to justify listing the Baron and the Jester as two completely different characters.
- Robotic Reveal - Manga only.
- Social Darwinist - in the manga, he believes that being a literal superhuman makes him fit to rule the world. This is also why he seeks to destroy Rushuna; during the Final Battle, he claims that only one of their kind should exist, so that only one can reign supreme. In the anime, Doshi sought to find the strongest person living to become the feared Grenadier who would do his and Setsuna's bidding and help him rule the world.
Setsuna Oomidoh (anime); Namari Shirogane (manga)
Setsuna Voiced by: Chieko Honda (JP)
The Evil Counterpart Cain and Abel to Rushuna Tendo, and that's where the anime and manga similarities end, really.
- Anti Heroine - Manga only.
- Cain and Abel - Particularly in the manga. Namari and Rushuna were both taken in by Soun, but Namari was about six when Rushuna - an infant - was found and taken in. After losing her left eye, Namari intends to kill Rushuna and become the Grenadier.
- Dark Action Girl
- Electronic Eye: Manga only. The Scan Eye helps her detect the paths of incoming bullets, and respond accordingly.
- Everything's Worse with Bears - Manga only; part and parcel of Namari's Heroic Sacrifice where she defended Rushuna from a bear, at the cost of her own left eye.
- Evil Twin
- Good Scars, Evil Scars - Manga only; when she removes her prosthetic mask, her face is the same, apart from an X-shaped scar around her prosthetic left eye that reaches across the bridge of her nose. Played with in regards to the fact that she switches to Rushuna's side in time for the final battle.
- The Gunslinger
- Heel Face Turn - Manga only.
- Heroic Sacrifice - Twice, both manga only. The first one loses her her left eye to a bear. Played with in the sense that Namari lives, but afterward resents Rushuna for existing. The second occurs during the final battle, when Namari takes a lethal blow from the Baron intended for Rushuna. She lives.
- Unorthodox Reload - much like Rushuna
- You Gotta Have Purple Hair - anime only. Namari has black hair until some point after losing her left eye, then has white hair for most of her appearances in the manga afterward (according to a colour illustration inside Volume 4). The cover for Volume 7 shows that she has brown hair, bizarrely.
Fuuka Shirato
Anime only. A former compatriot of Yajiro. She fills the role that Suguha played later in the manga.