# Grenadier (manga)

Grenadier (Japanese: グレネーダー, Hepburn: Gurenēdā) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Sōsuke Kaise. It was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Ace from April 2002 to March 2005, with its chapters collected in seven tankōbon volumes. In North America, the manga was initially licensed by Tokyopop and released in print from 2006 to 2008. It was later licensed for digital release by Viz Media and released in 2015.
A 12-episode anime television series adaptation, produced by Studio Live and Group TAC, and directed by Hiroshi Kōjina, was broadcast on Wowow from October 2004 to January 2005. The series was licensed in North America by Media Blasters.

## Plot

Grenadier follows the travels of Rushuna Tendō—an expert gunfighter—and the samurai Yajirō Kojima; a mercenary swordsman. A Senshi or "Enlightened" is one who is skilled to some degree in the use of guns. The series begins with Yajirō and a small army of samurai launching a frontal assault against a fort in an attempt to free their lord, which was taken over by a group of gunners. The assault fails.
Yajirō orders a retreat, but is spotted by the enemy and chased to a small cliff, which he jumps off of to escape. With his pursuers still following, he follows a nearby hot-water stream upcurrent where he finds Rushuna bathing in a hot spring. She seems undisturbed by his presence or her own nudity and hides him in the hot spring with her ample breasts as cover until the enemy passes them by. After this, she introduces herself as a traveler and reveals the ultimate battle-strategy to Yajirō; to avoid battle by removing an enemy's will to fight.
Hearing the gunfire of the renewed assault upon the fort, Yajirō leaves Rushuna to rejoin combat. He arrives in time to see the leader of the gunners use a Gatling gun to decimate the samurai. Rushuna also arrives at this point and shows her considerable gun talent and effectively ends the battle by defeating the lead gunner and rescuing the lord by herself.
Something in him changing, Yajirō decides to become Rushuna's partner and travel with her.
During their travels, Rushuna and Yajirō face a mysterious masked figure known only as "The Jester" who is responsible for a weapon called "Enlightened Evil". Then they discover that Tenshi, who sent Rushuna to travel in order to learn the "Ultimate Battle Strategy", had apparently put a price on her head. Joined by a young balloon maker named Mikan Kurenai, Rushuna and Yajirō make their way to the capital of Tento. Along the way they overcome many of the Juttensen, Tenshi's elite personal bodyguard.
When the three reach Tento, they discover the truth and the final showdown against the Jester begins.

## Media
### Manga

Written and illustrated by Sōsuke Kaise, Grenadier was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Ace from April 26, 2002, to March 26, 2005. Kadokawa Shoten collected its chapters in seven tankōbon volumes, released from June 26, 2003, to May 24, 2005.
In North America, the manga was licensed for an English print release by Tokyopop; the seven volumes were released from August 8, 2006, to August 12, 2008. The manga was later licensed for an English digital release by Viz Media; the seven volumes were released from April 21 to September 29, 2015.

### Anime

A 12-episode anime television series adaptation, titled Grenadier: The Senshi of Smiles (グレネーダー 〜ほほえみの閃士〜, Gurenēdā ~Hohoemi no Senshi), produced by Studio Live and Group TAC, and directed by Hiroshi Kōjina, was broadcast on Wowow from October 15, 2004, to January 14, 2005. The opening theme is "Kohaku" and ending theme is "Kanashimi ni Makenaide" (悲しみに負けないで), both performed by Mikuni Shimokawa. When the series was later re-broadcast, opening and ending themes were replaced with "Akatsuki no Sora wo Kakeru" (暁ノ空ヲ翔ル) and "Hana no Youni" (花のように) by Hiromi Sato.
In North America, the series was licensed by Media Blasters. The episodes were collected on three DVDs released in 2005. Media Blasters re-released the series on a single Blu-ray set on January 18, 2022.

#### Episodes

| No. | Title | Original release date |
| 01 | "The Smiling Senshi" (Japanese: ほほえみの閃士) | October 15, 2004 (2004-10-15) |
| The anime starts with a scene of war: samurai (swordsmen) vs senshi (people that use guns). More than half of the swordsmen get killed. Yajirō Kojima, the leader of the attack orders the retreat while trying to get the senshi attention to facilitate the others escape. While running he`s cornered and injured, then he hides in a hot spring where he meets Rushuna Tendō who claims to be just an ordinary traveler. She saves him from getting caught by the other senshi, then he departs while warning her that this road is dangerous. The second attack over taking back the castle fails as well. Rushuna appears again and saves Yajiro from getting shot then shoots the others, revealing that she is a senshi, a very skilled one. She manages to save the master without killing anyone, as she was taught by a woman revealed at the end of the episode. |||
| 02 | "Rushuna under Attack" (Japanese: 狙われた琉朱菜) | October 22, 2004 (2004-10-22) |
| 03 | "Enlightened Evil" (Japanese: 魔の閃) | October 29, 2004 (2004-10-29) |
| 04 | "The Town that does not Smile" (Japanese: 笑わない町) | November 5, 2004 (2004-11-05) |
| 05 | "Explosion! Kensousen, Kurenai Touka" (Japanese: 爆裂!拳槍閃. 紅桃華) | November 12, 2004 (2004-11-12) |
| 06 | "Balloonist, Mikan's Revenge" (Japanese: 風船使い みかんの仇討ち) | November 19, 2004 (2004-11-19) |
| 07 | "Destination Tento" (Japanese: いざ、天都へ) | November 26, 2004 (2004-11-26) |
| 08 | "An Enemy from the Past, Teppa Aizen" (Japanese: 想い出の敵·藍前鉄破) | December 3, 2004 (2004-12-03) |
| 09 | "When the Wind Flowers dance" (Japanese: 風花、舞う時...) | December 10, 2004 (2004-12-10) |
| 10 | "Entering Tento" (Japanese: 天都入り) | December 17, 2004 (2004-12-17) |
| 11 | "Showdown With Tenshi" (Japanese: 天子との対決) | January 7, 2005 (2005-01-07) |
| 12 | "Things Learned on the Road" (Japanese: 旅で身につけたもの) | January 14, 2005 (2005-01-14) |

## Reception
### Manga

    "If you prefer your action stories free of humor and completely serious then this series isn't for you. But if you like the idea of a skimpily-clad lead female character who reloads her revolver by bouncing six bullets out of her cleavage and loading them into her gun in midair then you should check out this title." — Matthew Alexander, Mania.
    "Yes, Rushuna is eye-candy and there are plenty of upskirt shots to keep most otaku happy, but she's also a complete badass with a gun. Hopefully future volumes will develop her character more so this isn't all we have to judge her on." — A. E. Sparrow, IGN.

### Anime

    "The character of Yajiro is a refreshing change from the typical male sidekick seen in this genre. Rushuna's character is not quite as appealing at the start, but her ties to the underlying main plot, along with the plot itself, have great potential." — Luis Cruz, Mania.
    "Well, Rushuna seems to have a penchant for baths and hotsprings, which means nudity of the non-explicit variety. There are also a lot of battles and fights, which does lead to red shirt death and bleeding wounds. Things never get really messy, though, so the show is probably fine for teenagers." — Stig Høgset, T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews.