Drifters

## Fandom

***Drifters*** / ***Drifters: Battle in a Brand-new World War*** (ドリフターズ, Dorifutāzu) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano. The manga started serialization in Shōnen Gahosha's magazine *Young King Ours* in April 2009. It focuses on various historical figures summoned to an unknown world where their skills and techniques are needed by magicians in order to save their world from total destruction. An anime television series adaptation aired between October and December 2016; three additional original video animation (OVA) episodes were released from December 2017 to November 2018.

*Drifters* has been published in English by Dark Horse since August 24, 2011; in Brazilian Portuguese by Nova Sampa since June 2014; in Spanish by Norma Editorial since April 14, 2011; and in Polish by J.P.Fantastica since June 2016.

## Synopsis

Shimazu Toyohisa, while involved at the Battle of Sekigahara, manages to mortally wound Ii Naomasa, but is critically injured in the process. As he walks from the field wounded and bleeding, Toyohisa finds himself transported to a corridor of doors, where a bespectacled man at a desk waits for him. This man, Murasaki, sends Toyohisa through the nearest door where he wakes up in another world. There, Toyohisa meets other great warriors like him who have been transported as well, to be part of a group known as "*Drifters*".

This world contains both native humans and a number of fantastical races, including elves, dwarves, and hobbits. However, the world is at war, with the humans waging a losing conflict against another group of great warriors, the "*Ends*", who wish to take over the world and kill all of the Drifters. Under the Ends' command are many horrible creatures, including giants and dragons, which they use to destroy everything in their path. At the start of the series, the Ends' army has control of the northern part of the continent, and are trying to invade the south through a pivotal fortress at the northernmost tip of a nation called Carneades. Meanwhile, the "*Octobrist Organization*", a group of human magicians native to this world, attempts to bring together the many individual Drifters to save their world from the brutal Ends.

## Bibliographic Information

Written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano, *Drifters* debuted in Shōnen Gahosha's *seinen* manga magazine *Young King Ours* on April 30, 2009. It is licensed in North America by Dark Horse Comics, in France by Éditions Tonkam, in Germany by Panini Comics, in Italy by J-POP, in Taiwan by Tong Li Comics and in Poland by Japonica Polonica Fantastica.

### *Manga*

Kouta Hirano "*Drifters*" Shonen Gahosha <Young King Comics>, 6+ volumes already published (as of November 30, 2018)

1. "Asteroid Blues" (アステロイドブルース, *Asuteroido Burūsu*)
2. "Baka Survivor" (バカサバイバー, *Baka Sabaibā*)
3. "After, In the Dark" (*After，in the dark*)
4. "Running Solo Song" (独走歌, *Dokusō Uta*)
5. "Country Road"
6. "Unyielding Wish"
7. "Joy"
8. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home"

Manga Vol. 1Manga Vol. 2Manga Vol. 3Manga Vol. 4Manga Vol. 5Manga Vol. 6
## Character

* Drifter #1
* Drifter #2
* Drifter #3

## Shimazu Toyohisa

### Aliases:

* Toyo/Toyohisa
* Toyohisa Shimazu, undersecretary to the Imperial Minister of the Center
* Toyo-Chan (by Saint-Germi)
* "Moron-dono" (by Oda Nobunaga)
* Shimazu Nakatsukasa Shoho Toyohisa *(official name)*

### Affiliation:

* Drifters
* Shimazu Clan
* Elves & Dwarfs Race
* Octobrists

### Allied:

* Oda Nobunaga
* Nasu Suketaka Yoichi
* Count Saint-Germi

## 「Biographical Information」

### Relatives:

* Shimazu Iehisa (Father)
* A daughter of Kabayama Yoshihisa (mother)
* Shimazu Yoshihiro (Uncle)
* Shimazu Tadanao (Brother)
* Shimazu Tadatsune (Cousin)
* Shimazu Yoshihisa (Uncle)
* Shimazu Toshihisa (Uncle)
* Shimazu Takahisa (Grandfather)
* Shimazu Tadanaga (Wife)

## 「Voice Actor」

### English VA:

Josh Grelle

The main character of this work. A military commander of the Shimazu family during the Sengoku period. He is called "*Sengoku's strongest samurai*" in the work. he is 30 years old. His official name was Shosuke Nakatsukasa. He speaks in the Satsuma dialect. He is affectionately called "Toyo-san" by the people of Shara Village. Nobunaga called him "Toyo" and "Otoyo."

In the defeat of the Battle of Sekigahara, which he participated in as the West Army, he acted as a betrayal in order to let his uncle Yoshihiro Shimazu escape, and fought with the corps of Naomasa Ii of the East Army who pursued him. However, when the Ii corps withdrew and he was wandering around the battlefield alone, Murasaki sent him to a different world, where he was treated by Nobunaga and Yoichi and revived.

Beginning with Taisute-ryu swordsmanship, where he bisects the opponent with his armor and warhorse with a long nodachi, he freely uses kumite armor techniques, matchlock-style short barrels, etc., and is a warrior who displays the strength of a demon god on the battlefield. He is also an excellent front-line commander, often using camouflaged withdrawal tactics in teamfights to achieve victory. In addition, his thinking is short-sighted and uneducated, and he is treated as a "disappointing child" in peacetime, but his intuition on the battlefield is sharp, and his instincts always make the best choice at key points in battle, and he is a child of another world. He has a natural talent for combat that is excellent in ideas and ideas that use techniques and items, and from Nobunaga he is a "natural-born military commander" and "a man who seems to be born to defeat the enemy", and from Yoichi he is "omniscient and omnipotent". is specialized in battle.” Although he lacks academics, he speaks and acts strategically at key points, and as a result of "desperate self-discipline," Nobunaga believes that he developed a personality that is only useful in battle. there is He has a strong obsession with raising his head, and has been given the nickname "Yokai Keep Your Head" by Olmine.

He has a hot-blooded and single-minded personality that resembles Hayato Satsuma in a painting. His combat instincts and the way he lives in battle, following only his samurai morals, amazes everyone around him, regardless of whether he's an enemy or an ally. Nobunaga's character, "*I can't read the atmosphere, but I can't read it*," is largely because he was born and raised in the belligerent Shimazu family. Orando, he admits. Nobunaga called him "*King's Vessel*" because of his attitude of thinking only of his own beliefs, his "*crazy*" nature that drives people into battle, and his ability to unite people of different races and values. The capacity is expected. However, he himself does not have such an awareness, and although he is in a position where he should not die, he does not hesitate to sacrifice his own life for the sake of military achievements and victory, so he is worried by those around him. ing. He never forgets the kindness he received, protects the elves who helped him, and resents the cruelty of women and children, and his chivalrous spirit is strong. His administration is left to Nobunaga and others, and he usually wanders around the city with Hannibal and Yoichi or takes a nap. When he comes up with an idea, he tends to act immediately without consulting others, and while people around him say that he can't take his eyes off him than a baby, he can be compared to Liu Bang , who succeeded in founding a country just because he couldn't leave him alone. It is

He helped the elves who were oppressed by the Orte army because they hid themselves, and helped the rebel army recapture the country as the supreme commander. He eventually liberates not only the elves but also the dwarves, and leads a small force to occupy the imperial capital of Verlina. At the same time, he fought against the Black King's army, which attacked him at the same time, as the captain of a dwarven assault soldier whose fighting style was similar, and by rejecting Hijikata, succeeded in stealing the country in both name and reality. He follows the refugees fleeing from the Black King's army to the south with a speech, and determines the land of the decisive battle Salsa Decadan to meet the waste as "*Sekigahara*" in this world. In the decisive battle with the Black King's army, he defeated the dwarves and the giants of the vanguard, and went on a rampage riding a dragon subdued by Seimei. Then, just as he had been prepared for a long time, he and the old dwarf soldier carried out the second abandonment in his life as a rear army and charged the enemy main camp.

### Abilities

> "*I don't know if this is a dream or reality!! the only left for me is to charge forward!!*"
>
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> ― **Shimazu Toyohisa**
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His brain isn't bad, but he doesn't use his brain much for anything other than fighting and taking heads (*stupid, but not stupid, though he's a war idiot*). His words and deeds often stand out without reading the air, but this is something he learned from an early age. Nobunaga Oda said, "*It's not that I can't read the atmosphere, I don't read it*." This undermines the enemy's tactics and stubbornness, and conversely increases the morale of allies. He is very belligerent, and even himself admits that "*There is not a single Satsuma soldier who is lost in blood*".

However, on the other hand, he protects the elves who helped him, and he resents the cruelty of women and children. No matter what happens, he acts based on his own convictions and does not waver for better or for worse. Even though he is charismatic in his single-minded attitude and brings together humans, dwarves, and elves, he himself believes that he is a cannon ball, and even though he is a general, he doesn't hesitate to throw away pieces if necessary, so it's not a bad thing for those around him. His relatives are the four Shimazu brothers. That's why I can't help but be aware of the difference in my ability as a general compared to them, and since I'm not in a position to succeed the head family, I guess there was a carefree place that didn't have anything to do with family or government affairs.

Although he is obsessed with taking the heads of his enemies, he slashes generals who commit outrageous deeds not even worth taking their heads, telling them to "just save their lives." In addition, he said, "*A girl's neck is not a credit*," and he did not kill Jeanne d'Arc by taking it easy. The level that he just didn't kill it. Regarding this action, Anastasia and Rasputin , who have experienced losing to the descendants of those who had been killing each other every day in this narrow Japan, said, "I took it easy, but I didn't know what would happen to my opponent after that. is a collection of self -satisfaction . For the dwarves who were emaciated by brutal hard labor, they fed the provisions of the food storage and battle horses, and taught the elves the Shimazu-style one-hit-kill swordsmanship, saying, "(If you remove it) you will die quickly. It's the vanguard. It's an honor." He treats the corpses of enemies as raw materials for gunpowder, and says, "*There's no way a soul can dwell in a meat bag, not a neck.*"

It is both intriguing and awe-inspiring. He absolutely believed in the power of Shimazu, and was convinced that his descendants of Shimazu would destroy the shogunate after Sekigahara (in other words, Takamori Saigo 's Meiji Restoration).

A 「***Nodachi***」 that is as tall as his body, a wakizashi that accompanies it, and a *short barrel* that seems to be a horseman's barrel are hung from his waist. Nodachi is not a famous katana with a name, but because of the refining technique peculiar to Japanese swords, it makes dwarves who are good at blacksmiths hesitate to repair it, and it is said to be "*the work of a perverted country*". In the recollection, he wore armor, but in the main story, he wears props that look like a gauntlet and Manchira engraved with the Shimazu family crest . This is thought to be due to the fact that Toyohisa's extant relics are armor only. When he invaded the castle, he wore locally procured armor in order to infiltrate, but after infiltration, he immediately took it off while saying, "*It's hot! It's hard to move!*"

> "*We are Humans. We follow our own principles.*"
>
>
> ― **Shimazu Toyohisa**
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>
>

Toyohisa is a great swordsman, capable of defeating, slaughtering enemies in seconds. Whether they're fully armed, or not armed, Toyohisa's confident in his abilities and his excellent swordsmanship can defeat them. He's also effortlessly sliced a head while they were riding a horse, rushing at him, sliced three, fully armed people with a single swing and sliced one in half; all of that was done in a few seconds. He was also shown defeating Aram, who's a true knight, without bleeding and in seconds. His combat ability priority:

* Kill a cavalryman with his horse
* The armored knight is cut in half along with the armor, cutting into thickest part of the armor
* Cut off the head along with the sword that struck
* High-speed & self-injection using the soil wall of Olmine as a launch pad
* Make the opponent shoot themselves with a shotgun with his speed

And so on, disturbing the battlefield with an unpredictable rampage.

His main weapon is a large *nodachi* sword, and he specializes in one-hit kill attacks based on the *Taisatsu-ryu style*, *Kumitse style*, including the *Jigen-ryu technique*. Regardless of one-on-one sword fighting, he utilizes everything that can be used in battle, such as grappling with kumite armor and follow-up attacks with scabbards.

He doesn't use the wakizashi or short cylinder he wears much, but he is also good at handling firearms such as explosives. He is naturally endowed with the atmosphere and ability to drive people into battle, and when fighting, he considers not only the placement and weapons of his soldiers, but also the psychological effects that it will have on the enemy soldiers.

According to him, the speed of Shimazu's advance was unusually fast, and Nobunaga Oda called him a "*warrior race*." During the one-on-one fight with Toshizo Hijikata , he threw food while hiding in a building, and Hijikata scolded him, saying, "There is no samurai." In response, Toyohisa said, "This is a battle. He talks about the original Bushido" before the Sengoku period, where challenging the battle is the etiquette of the samurai, and has a sense of values ​​that does not apply to the glorified Shido of later years.

## Oda Nobunaga

"I am Oda, and Oda is me. Damn it!! I'm used to rebellion!!"

### Nickname:

* Nobu by Toyohisa
* Nobu-san by the villagers of Shara
* Demon King
* Fool of Owari

### Affiliation:

* Drifters
* Oda Clan
* Elves & Dwarfs Race
* Octobrists

### Allied:

* Shimazu Toyohisa
* Nasu Suketaka Yoichi
* Count Saint-Germi

## 「Biographical Information」

### Relatives:

**Family**:* Oichi (Sister)
* Azai Nagamasa (brother-in-law)
* Oda Nobuhide (Father)
* Dota Gozen (Mother)

**Wife**:

* Nōhime
* Kitsuno (concubine)

**Children**:

* Oda Nobutada
* Oda Nobukatsu
* Oda Nobutaka
* Hashiba Hidekatsu
* Oda Katsunaga
* Tokuhime

### Occupation:

* Chancellor of the Realm/Tactician
* Warlord (Former)

## 「Voice Actor」

### English VA:

Robert McCollum

A hero who proclaimed himself the *Demon King of the Sixth Heaven* during the Sengoku period and fought under the banner of "*Tenka Fubu*". He is 50 years old because more than half a year has passed since the "Honnoji Incident" at the age of 49 when he first appeared. He also called himself 'Oda Saki no Ufu' because he resigned from the post of Minister of the Right four years before the Honnoji Incident. He wears an eyepatch over his right eye. When he was desperately trying to escape from the burning Honnoji Temple due to the rebellion of his vassal Mitsuhide Akechi, he was sent to a different world after experiencing the same experience as Toyohisa. acted together.

Although his practical jokes stand out even in battle, he is by nature a cunning and cold-hearted strategist. I think that's the way it is." As he said, he builds strategies and tactics from a very realistic and long-term perspective. He lashes out at the anger in front of him as much as possible, but when he crosses a certain line, he has a habit of staying silent, deciding not to let him live out of rationality and stinginess as a pathological monarch. He also excels as a commander, leading elven serfs with no experience in battle to destroy an army of Orte regulars who are superior in numbers and skill, and he responds immediately to Hannibal's gestures with efficiency and give instructions. He also realizes that firearms such as revolvers and Gatling guns, and tools such as crystal balls for communication can change the style of warfare. He was the first to recognize that "a castaway is a technical immigrant and a person with a different way of thinking." Because he is a former eccentric, he likes flashy and theatrical productions that make those around him amazed.

Fighting against waste in the form of a request from the October Organization and the circumstances that helped the elves. As a strategy, he plans to destroy the Orte Empire, establish a multi-tribe coalition nation that includes humans, and create a system of "*samurai*" with Toyohisa as the ruler, seizing only military power. He suspected that the Honnoji Incident was a rebellion by his son Nobutada Oda, but learned from Toyohisa that he had sacrificed himself. The events after his death, such as his heir dying in battle, the loss of his 50-year life, and the fall of the Oda family, were shocking. As Toyohisa said, people's heads, driven by profit and greed, seem to dance in the palm of his hand. He feels that he is not qualified to be a monarch, so he decides to make Toyohisa the "King", who has anticipated his potential, and he will be in charge of all the staff and dirty roles.

Since he is already in his old age, he doesn't often fight directly, but he maintains the physical strength to run side by side with Toyohisa and Yoichi from the abandoned castle to the elf village, even though he is a bit behind. He was also a good learner and understood Elvish in a short period of time, but he did not tell anyone about it and showed it when Seimei brought a tag that could be translated. He is good at making sentences that "manipulate the reader's emotions", and he can gather the elves just by sending a letter of exhortation. He also showed his ingenuity to make the armies fight each other and destroy them.

In addition to using the matchlock guns that he originally possessed as a weapon, he will also promote mass production, including logistics, such as the production of saltpeter, which is the material for black powder, the procurement of sulfur, and the manufacture of the matchlock itself. In addition to making saltpeter hills using the soil of toilets and dirt floors and the bodies of the dead in battle to refine saltpeter, feces was used as a tactic, and water was not available in the first battle against Elf Village, where supplies were scarce. It is thrown into a well to make it hard, and it is smeared on arrowheads to cause tetanus. During the battle against the Black King's army in Verlina, he entrusted the elite soldiers of the Count of Saint-Germi and commanded them in a gun formation.

Before the decisive battle of Salsa Decadent, he led the construction of a field castle similar to Nagashino, and after the war began, when he learned that the enemy army was commanding the enemy army, Mitsuhide, who killed his son, declared his murder. However, he was outwitted by Mitsuhide and was defeated by the betrayal of the refugees and the injection of all enemy forces. Called "Nobu" by Toyohisa and "Nobu-san" by the villagers of Shara, he is recognized as a de facto commander. However, he has a hard time with Toyohisa's actions that don't care about himself, and although he himself wants to pretend to be Zhang Liang who supported Liu Bang, Saint-Germi who saw this was likened to Chen.
### Abilities

> "*The fire still looks good! It reminds me of Ise Nagashima.*"
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> ― **Oda Nobunaga**
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At the age of 50, he is a middle-aged man who shouts loudly about the title of "Demon King of the Sixth Heaven" and is obsessed with directing. He is a hard worker who laments the lack of rice, the staple food of the Japanese, every day because he is always swayed by the unpredictable youkai head and the old man who loves wooden is getting more and more stupid. The Count of Saint-Germi likened him to Chengong. Zhang Liang seems to be good as a person. As mentioned at the beginning, he has been betrayed many times, and has also experienced considerable hardships such as the Ikko Ikki and the supply attack. He often shows off his strategies based on that lesson, mixed with self-deprecation. He was furious when he found out that the Wastes could have unlimited food with the power of the Black King. He is an old man who stands out for his pranks and pranks on the battlefield, but in reality he is a cunning and cold -hearted realist. He said, "*What you do before the battle starts is the battle*," and he has both an excellent eye for observation and careful preparation. While Toyohisa trusts his abilities, It is said that "I can see through the "*heads*" of people who are driven by profit and greed, but I cannot read the 'hearts' of people who are driven by resentment and emotion." He himself is aware of this due to the numerous betrayals mentioned above.
In the first place, he first suspected that his son, Nobutada Oda, was the mastermind behind the Honnoji Incident, and when later told by Toyohisa that "his son fought to the end and died", he showed a tragic expression. Partly because of this incident, he believes that a person like himself is not a vessel for the king , and instead decides to put Toyohisa above him and devote himself to being a staff officer and a dirty role. Somewhere in Toyohisa, there is a knot of his son, and when he tries to kill all the prisoners in his passion, and when he tries to serve as a warden again, he desperately stops him. There is one side. Toyohisa later confronts him again, saying, " I'm not your son," and although he comes to terms with himself to some extent, he builds a unique relationship of trust that makes him neither a friend nor a companion. By the way, naturally, Mitsuhide is a man who absolutely kills. In addition to betraying himself, he found out that his son was also killed, and his murderous intent is at the level of madness.

The staff officer of the flotsam who moves the battle by mobilizing all the experience and knowledge that he has cultivated in his life. As typified by the Battle of Nagashino, he is a strategist who always prepares the situation to his advantage. He can inspire and rally elves from all over the world with just a document, and he can make his opponents attack each other with only the minimum amount of troops, showing a wit that rolls the opponent's psychology with the palm of his hand. He prepares the environment to make black powder from the corpses of enemy soldiers, collects feces from the village toilets and feeds them into arrows to cause tetanus. After freeing the dwarves from the mines, they used their technology and the gunpowder prepared in advance to secure a production line for matchlock guns. By training the elite under the Count of Saint-Germi, he organized the matchlock corps and further strengthened his fighting strength. He is already 50 years old, so his physical strength is declining, but he is in good health enough to catch up with Toyohisa and Yoichi's sprinting despite being out of breath. Although his direct combat strength is inferior to those of the two, he is usually stronger than other soldiers, such as firing a *matchlock* with one hand and shooting the enemy in the eyebrows.

## Nasu Suketaka Yoichi

### Nickname:

* Munetaka
* Yoichi

### Affiliation:

* Drifters
* Nasu clan
* Elves & Dwarfs Race
* Octobrists

### Allied:

* Oda Nobunaga
* Shimazu Toyohisa
* Count Saint-Germi

## 「Biographical Information」

### Relatives:

* Nasu no Suketaka (father)
* Minamoto no Yoshitsune

## 「Voice Actor」

### English VA:

Briner, Justin

Legendary bow master of the Genpei War. he is 19 years old. A beautiful boy who can be mistaken for a woman. When he first met Toyohisa, he was mistaken for a woman or Ranmaru Mori because he was with Nobunaga and because of his good looks . When he fights, even the handsome elves call him "pretty", but Yoichi himself is the youngest of the 11 Nasu brothers and the most ugly, and his older brothers are even more beautiful says that. Although he died many years before Nobunaga and Toyohisa, Yoichi is the youngest in the group. His historical death date is unclear, yet some records indicate that he either died on August 8 in 1189 or in October of 1190. Historically he is known as a powerful warrior who served Minamoto no Yoshitsune during the Genpei War, and he also appears in the Tale of the Heike. However, Nobunaga notes that Yoichi is very different from historical accounts. Yoichi acts as the group's archer, killing fleeing enemies.

Although he has an inedible personality that is completely different from what is told in military tales, he also has one side as a battle maniac who enjoys fighting Girdre. His archery skills are far superior to those of the elves, who were originally a tribe that excelled in archery, and he boasts of his supernatural feats such as succeeding in consecutive arrows. He leads elf archers and often undertakes guerrilla activities such as hunting remnants. At Verlina he led a longbow company of elves in skirmish warfare. In Salsa Decadan, he achieved a result of shooting down a flying dragon with only a bow and arrow, but due to the defeat of his own army, he reluctantly left the lord to Toyohisa and withdrew with Nobunaga.

He learned the language of elves by himself, and although it was broken, he was able to try to have a conversation. However, since they were able to communicate easily with the signs of the October Agency, those efforts ended in vain.

Because he didn't like Yoshitsune's despicable strategy due to his sense of value as a samurai, he initially thought of Yoshitsune as Toyohisa and Nobunaga, who used devious tactics that could be considered mean, but unlike Yoshitsune, what was the difference? He begins to like Toyohisa, who does not force him. He often leaves his base for military operations, but he usually hangs around town with Toyohisa and others.

***Personality***

* Yoichi has a caring personality, as he cares about others. Yoichi has also been shown to doubt himself and shows small signs of depression and self doubt, based upon this phrase from both the manga and the anime, "I am the youngest of the Nasu Clan and I am the ugliest."
* Yoichi has told of his family multiple times in both the manga and anime, he tells in a flashback of him having ten brothers, Yoichi being the eleventh and youngest, Yoichi also said he was the ugliest out of them.
* Yoichi suffers from PTSD as a result of the Genpei War. His normally calm and playful demeanor quickly vanishes when confronted by memories of his former lord, Minamoto Yoshitsune, who committed multiple war atrocities during Yoichi's time serving him, leading to a crisis of honor for the loyal retainer. Flashbacks to these traumatic thoughts often leave Yoichi shaken and less sure of himself, even while actively engaged in combat, making him a potential danger to both himself and his allies. This becomes more pronounced when Yoichi is directly confronted by his former master, who has also been brought to the alternate world as a Drifter, and possibly even as an End.
* Yoichi seems to become more talkative when consuming alcohol, he talks of his servitude under the Minamoto Clan.

### Abilities

The second head of the Nasu clan. From an early age, he was a gifted archer and left many legends behind. Together with his older brother, he joined the Minamoto clan and fought against the Taira clan. A beautiful boy who can be mistaken for a woman in Drifters.

He has an insufferable personality that is completely different from what is told in Genpei's war chronicles, but he was not pleased with Yoshitsune's tactics, which did not choose any means. After he met Nobunaga Oda and Toyohisa Shimazu in another world, the three of them started robbing the country of Orte and made a furious attack.

As he is known to the general public, he is a master of the bow, and his skill far surpasses that of the elves, who were originally a race of archers, because his skills of targeting the vital parts of the opponents he became most fearsome in the battle. He gathers elves who are good archers and organizes something like a sniper unit and undertakes various special missions.

## TV Anime

A 150-second anime adaptation of *Drifters* was packaged with the final volume of the *Hellsing Ultimate* video series in December 2012. The short, produced under the supervision of Ryoji Nakamori, technical director Kazuya Miura, and animation director Masayori Komine, featured the voices of Yūichi Nakamura as Shimazu Toyohisa and Mitsuru Miyamoto as Murasaki, with music composed by Yasushi Ishii.

In the May 2015 issue of *Young King OURs*, it was announced that a *Drifters* anime adaptation was in the works. A production site for the anime has been released. The anime was directed by Kenichi Suzuki, produced by NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan, animated by Hoods Drifters Studio, written by Hideyuki Kurata and Yōsuke Kuroda, featuring character designs by Ryoji Nakamori. Yasushi Ishii and Hayato Matsuo composed the music together. The opening theme, "Gospel Of The Throttle 狂奔REMIX ver.", is performed by Minutes til Midnight, while the ending theme, "*Vermillion*", is performed by Maon Kurosaki.

The 12-episode series began airing on October 7, 2016, on Tokyo MX. A specially edited version of the first and second episodes with a runtime of 36 minutes was bundled with the manga's fifth volume, and released on June 6, 2016. A special limited-pressing Blu-ray box set was released on December 30, 2016. The box set includes all twelve episodes (with added unaired footage), an exclusive box illustrated by Hirano, a 200-page animation sketch collection by chief animation director Ryoji Nakamori, a 52-page booklet, a bonus extras disc, and a two-CD original soundtrack. The bonus extras disc contained an omake titled "*Kokuō-sama Go-Ranshin (黒王様御乱心)*", promotional videos, and other materials. Customers who pre-ordered the box set from participating retailers before November 6, 2016, would receive an exclusive illustration card set. Additionally, the box set included a form for advance ticket sales for an event that was held on April 2, 2017, at Maihama Amphitheater in Chiba.

## Ending Theme

### ED Title:

* Vermillion (eps 1-11)
* Rurou no Zakuro (eps 12)

### ED Composer:

* Maon Kurosaki (eps 1-11)
* Yasushi Ishii (eps 12)

### ED Audio:

(eps 1-11)
(eps 12)

In Japan, the anime is exclusively streamed on the AbemaTV service simultaneously as the anime aired on Japanese television, starting on October 7 at 11 p.m. The series has been licensed by Funimation for streaming in English-speaking countries and home video and on-demand distribution for the U.S. Additionally, Funimation streamed *Drifters* in English beginning on November 6, 2016, at 10:00 p.m. ET. As part of Funimation's partnership with Crunchyroll, Crunchyroll also streamed *Drifters* as it aired in Japan. *Drifters* was also broadcast on Aniplus Asia. Funimation released a DVD/Blu-ray combo package for *Drifters* on October 3, 2017. Universal Pictures UK acquired the series for the United Kingdom and Ireland and released it on October 8, 2018. Universal Sony classified the series for release in Australia and New Zealand and released it on October 17, 2018.

* ***Staff***
	+ Original work - Kouta Hirano
	+ Director - Kenichi Suzuki (TV, OVA 1-2)
	+ Animation Director - Hitomi Ezoe (OVA 3)
	+ Series composition - Hideyuki Kurata
	+ Character design/chief drawing director - Ryoji Nakamori
	+ Setting investigation - Haruichi Shirato
	+ Calligraphy Design - Setta
	+ Art Director - Kenichi Tateto
	+ Color design - Haruko Nobori
	+ Director of Photography - Yasuhiko Abe (TV, OVA 1-2)
	+ CG Director - Tomoyuki Takae (TV, OVA 1-2)
	+ Editing - Kiyoshi Hirose
	+ Acoustic Director - Yota Tsuruoka
	+ Music - Yasushi Ishii, Hayato Matsuo
	+ Music Producer - Toshiaki Ota
	+ Producer - ueda yasuyuki, Fudetani Yoshiyuki
	+ Animation Producer - Shinya Ueda
	+ Animation production - HOODS DRIFTERS STUDIO
	+ Production - *DRIFTERS* Production Committee (NBCUniversal Entertainment, Shonen Gahosha, Hoods Entertainment)

At the end of the anime's twelfth episode, a second season was announced with the message "*See You Again, Tokyo 20XX*". On October 10, 2017, it was announced the thirteenth and fourteenth episodes, and the first two episodes of the second season were released on December 23, 2017, on Blu-ray discs in regular and limited-edition versions. The limited edition includes an outer case illustrated by manga creator Kouta Hirano, a jacket illustrated by character designer and chief animation director Ryoji Nakamori, a bonus video, a drama CD, a 72-page booklet, and a "*mystery disc.*" A fifteenth-episode was released on DVD with the manga's 6th volume special edition on November 30, 2018.

## Collaboration

 "*Nobunaga's Ambition Creation Power Up Kit*"
 "*Sekigahara Battle Festival 2013*"
 "*The 30th National Cultural Festival Kagoshima 2015*"
 "*Drifters Original Art Exhibition in Senganen*"
* In addition to the 2015 National Cultural Festival mentioned above, at the Shoko Shuseikan Annex, where Mr. Shimazu is involved, the commercial for the "Sengoku Shimazu Exhibition" where the actual armor worn by Toyohisa Shimazu during the Battle of Sekigahara was exhibited. Partly because it was aired during the TV anime broadcast that started in October 2016, the "Tea room" in Mr. Shimazu 's villa Sengan -en in Kagoshima Prefecture on Saturdays and Sundays in the last week of July and the first week of August 2017・Exhibition of original paintings at Shuseisou. A colored paper drawn by Kota Hirano with an illustration of Toyohisa and a sentence saying "Thank you very much, Mr. Shimazu!!" will also be on display. A special exhibition will also be held to display the actual armor worn by Toyohisa mentioned above. From August 31st to September 20th, 2019, and from September 15th to October 4th, 2020 to commemorate the 450th anniversary of Toyohisa Shimazu's birth, it will be held at the palace in Sengan-en.

## Reception

The manga has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide in five different languages. *Drifters* has been nominated twice for the annual Manga Taishō Awards, once in the year 2011 and again in the year 2012. The manga was also received well by BAMFAS, saying that the "*action paces itself throughout the volume, making sure to include only enough to keep readers moving quickly through the event until the next transition hits.*" Writers for Crunchyroll note that "*Drifters* has all but jumped the shark by belligerently knocking over all the narrative pillars of the genre." The Inquisitr agrees with this assessment, writing that "anime fans have been treated to a steady stream of the *Isekai* subgenre…but *Drifters* pretty much turns our expectations on its head."

In a survey by the Japanese website *Anime Anime!*, *Drifters* won fifth place among top 10 manga properties to have an animated adaptation.

## External Link

* *Drifters: Battle in a Brand-new World War* on Dark Horse Comics website
* *TV Anime "Drifters: Battle in a Brand-new World War"* Official Website (in Japanese)
* *Drifters: Battle in a Brand-new World War* Official (@DriftersAnime) - Twitter
* *TV Anime Drifters: Battle in a Brand-new World War* ─ Funimation
* *ENDStheBLACKLORD* Official (@ENDStheBL) - Twitter (official character account)
* *Drifters: Battle in a Brand-new World War* ─ Wikipedia (in Japanese)
* *Drifters: Battle in a Brand-new World War* ─ Wikipedia (in English)