Queen's Blade

Queen's Blade (クイーンズブレイド) is a Japanese series of visual combat books published by Hobby Japan inspired by the licensed works from Firelight Game Company's Lost Worlds. The overall plot of the game revolves around a tournament called the Queen's Blade, which is held once every four years to determine a Queen.

Since its original release, the series has evolved into a media franchise, spanning four manga adaptations, three anime adaptations, three light novels, and a video game adaptation. Figures of the characters made by various manufacturers, such as Kaiyodo with their Revoltech series, have also been produced along with several memorabilia. A sequel series, Queen's Blade Rebellion, was launched in 2009.

Characters

Story

In the Continent, a tournament called the Queen's Blade is held once every four years to determine the most beautiful and powerful Queen. Held in Gainos (ガイノス), the Queen's Capital, various fighters from all over the Continent travel to the Capital to defeat Aldra, the current Queen. The overall story of Queen's Blade focuses on Leina, the heiress of the esteemed Vance Family and next in line for the throne, as she travels to Gainos, encountering many other warriors also competing in the Queen's Blade for their own intentions.

Media

Gamebooks

At Anime Expo 2010, Hobby Japan announced that English translations of the gamebooks will be released in North America.[23] There exist English versions for the characters Alleyne, Melona, Nanael and Tomoe.[24]

Series 1 (Leina and Risty): Released November 25, 2005.[4][5]
Series 2 (Irma and Nowa): Released December 28, 2005.[6][7]
Series 3 (Tomoe and Echidna): Released June 9, 2006.[8][9]
Series 4 (Menace and Elina): Released September 29, 2006.[10][11]
Series 5 (Airi and Leina 3D): Released December 22, 2006.[12][13]
Series 6 (Nanael and Cattleya): Released March 16, 2007.[14][15]
Series 7 (Nyx and Melpha): Released June 29, 2007.[16][17]
Series 8 (Melona and Claudette): Released October 18, 2007.[18][19]
Series 9 (Ymir): Released February 15, 2008.[20]
A limited-edition second-player color version of Ymir was distributed exclusively by online hobby shop Post Channel.
Series 10 (Aldra and Alleyne): Released June 20, 2008.[21][22]

Anime

An anime adaptation of Queen's Blade, entitled Queen's Blade: Wandering Warrior (クイーンズブレイド流浪の戦士), was produced by ARMS. Directed by Kinji Yoshimoto, the anime aired twelve episodes in Japan from April 2 to June 18, 2009, on AT-X, with subsequent broadcasts on Chiba TV, Sun Television, and Tokyo MX. The series aired uncensored on AT-X, while being heavily censored on other channels. Six DVD and Blu-ray volumes were released by Media Factory between June 25, 2009, and November 25, 2009,[25][26] each DVD/BD volume containing one of six OVAs. A second season, Queen's Blade: Inheritor of the Throne (クイーンズブレイド玉座を継ぐ者), aired on AT-X and other channels from September 24 to December 10, 2009. Six DVD/BD volumes were released by Media Factory between December 22, 2009, and May 25, 2010,[27][28]

Manga

An anthology comic of Queen's Blade was published by Hobby Japan with four volumes released between April 25, 2007, and February 25, 2008.[41][42] A manga adaptation centered on Leina illustrated by Kabao Kikkawa was serialized in the October 2008 issue of Media Factory's seinen manga magazine Monthly Comic Alive.[43] Three volumes were released between February 2, 2009, and January 23, 2010, under Media Factory's Alive Comics imprint.[44][45]

Another manga adaptation of Queen's Blade illustrated by Iku Nanazuki called Queen's Blade: Hide & Seek (クイーンズブレイド -Hide&Seek-), began serialization in the December 2007 issue of Comp Ace

Light novels

A light novel adaptation of Queen's Blade, called Queen's Blade: Sword of Unicorn (クイーンズブレイド　ソード・オブ・ユニコーン), is written by Eiji Okita with illustrations by Eiwa. The first volume was released on April 27, 2007, by Hobby Japan under their HJ Bunko imprint,[50] and released five volumes until November 1, 2008.[51] A bonus novel called Fierce Battle! Queen's Blade (激闘！クイーンズブレイド) was published on March 1, 2008, with illustrations provided by Hirotaka Akaga.[52]

A light novel based on the first anime series, written by Okita and illustrated by Tsumotu Miyazawa, was also published by Hobby Japan, and released two volumes between August 1, 2009, and October 1, 2009.[53][54]

Video game

A role-playing game called Queen's Blade: Spiral Chaos (クイーンズブレイドスパイラルカオス) was developed by Bandai Namco Games for the PlayStation Portable. It was released on December 17, 2009, and features all-new characters and an original storyline exclusive to the game in addition to recurring characters from the original series. A limited edition of the game, called the Gekitō Pack, was also released, featuring a Cute figure from Figma and a bonus character voice CD.[55] A sequel, Queen's Gate: Spiral Chaos, was released as part of the Queen's Gate series of works.

Other

Queen's Blade Fan Disc: character dress-up video game published in 2006.
Queen's Blade i: A mobile phone game using game rules from the combat picture book series. Service host by DigitalMediaLab and it supports FOMA 703i and 901i series. Carriers include NTT DoCoMo. The service seems to have been discontinued since.
Queen's Blade Collection Card ver.2.0: A currently-produced card series with individual biography cards for each character, plus artwork cards and bubble gum.
Three visual books called Queen's Blade: Beautiful Fighters Biographies (クイーンズブレイド美闘士列伝) were released by Hobby Japan, narrating the backstories of the fighters before the tournament:
Picture Scroll of the Musha-Miko (武者巫女絵巻), illustrated by Eiwa, released on Abril 28, 2007.[56]
Tome of the Ancient Princess (古代王女の書), illustrated by F.S., released on February 15, 2008.[57]
Adventure of the Exiled Warrior (流浪の戦士冒険記), illustrated by Hirokazu Hisayuki, released on February 28, 2009.[58]

type	tv series
title	Queen's Blade: The Exiled Virgin
director	Kinji Yoshimoto
producer	Hiromasa Minami Hirotaka Yoshida Kazuaki Morijiri Masaaki Yokota Shinsaku Tanaka
writer	Kinji Yoshimoto
music	Masaru Yokoyama
studio	ARMS
network	AT-X, Chiba TV, SUN, Tokyo MX
first	April 2, 2009
last	June 18, 2009
episodes	12
episode list	List of Queen's Blade episodes#Queen's Blade: Wandering Warrior (JP)/Queen's Blade: The Exiled Virgin (NA)