Kämpfer

Kämpfer (けんぷファー) is a Japanese light novel series by Toshihiko Tsukiji, with illustrations by Senmu. As of March 25, 2010, fifteen volumes have been published by Media Factory under their MF Bunko J imprint. A manga adaptation by Yu Tachibana started serialization in the seinen manga magazine Monthly Comic Alive on February 27, 2008. An anime adaptation began airing in Japan on October 2, 2009 on TBS.

Plot
The plot revolves around Natsuru Senō, a normal high school boy with blue hair. One day he wakes up to find himself turned into a girl. A stuffed tiger "Harakiri Tora" comes to life and tells him to fight as a female fighter "Kämpfer". Having no idea about what's going on, Natsuru is involved in many battles against other female Kämpfer.

Main characters

 * Natsuru Senō (瀬能 ナツル)
 * The series' main protagonist. Second year student of Seitetsu Gakuin High School, he has a crush on Kaede Sakura, one of the school beauties, to the point of single-mindedness and sees other girls with indifference, and very thickheaded about the feelings of Shizuku, Akane and Mikoto. He is chosen as a Blue Kämpfer by Moderator and setup as a Zauber type with power based on fire. In keeping with the rule that all Kämpfers are females, he turns into a girl upon transformation. After a fight with Shizuku exposed his Kämpfer form to other students of the school, Shizuku arranged to have him enrolled in girl's class to fulfill public curiosity in a way that diverts attentions away from Kämpfer battle. His Kämpfer form has subsequently been ranked among the Three Beauties of Seitetsu (there used to be only two, being Shizuku and Sakura) and, much to his own dismay, become subject of intense affections from Kaede Sakura (who has displayed no particular interest in his Normal form), the female student body that ranges from giving gifts to more complex ones like being asked to the oath of sisterhood, and the boys.
 * The series' main protagonist. Second year student of Seitetsu Gakuin High School, he has a crush on Kaede Sakura, one of the school beauties, to the point of single-mindedness and sees other girls with indifference, and very thickheaded about the feelings of Shizuku, Akane and Mikoto. He is chosen as a Blue Kämpfer by Moderator and setup as a Zauber type with power based on fire. In keeping with the rule that all Kämpfers are females, he turns into a girl upon transformation. After a fight with Shizuku exposed his Kämpfer form to other students of the school, Shizuku arranged to have him enrolled in girl's class to fulfill public curiosity in a way that diverts attentions away from Kämpfer battle. His Kämpfer form has subsequently been ranked among the Three Beauties of Seitetsu (there used to be only two, being Shizuku and Sakura) and, much to his own dismay, become subject of intense affections from Kaede Sakura (who has displayed no particular interest in his Normal form), the female student body that ranges from giving gifts to more complex ones like being asked to the oath of sisterhood, and the boys.


 * Akane Mishima (美嶋 紅音)
 * School librarian and Natsuru's friend, she is also a Blue Kämpfer like Natsuru. Normally very shy (which might very well be attributed to her tendency of misunderstanding what others are trying to do in a borderline-erotic way) and soft-spoken, she has bipolar disorder upon transforming into a Kämpfer, becoming foul-mouthed, bitter, vindictive, and trigger-happy. She explained most of the rules of being a Kämpfer when Natsuru's own Messenger gave no such details. She is a Gewehr type Kämpfer who uses an 1911 .45 pistol and appears to be ambidextrous. In addition to having Natsuru as the first male to establish in-depth friendship with her, Akane eventually begins to harbor feelings for him, becoming jealous and easily irritable when he talks about another girl (most if not all of the time being Kaede) in front of her or when another girl takes an interest in him (whether that interest is romantic in nature or not). Despite often responding with indifference, however, Natsuru does later tell her that if Kaede were never on his mind, she (Normal form) would have been the kind of girl he "sees no problem with".
 * School librarian and Natsuru's friend, she is also a Blue Kämpfer like Natsuru. Normally very shy (which might very well be attributed to her tendency of misunderstanding what others are trying to do in a borderline-erotic way) and soft-spoken, she has bipolar disorder upon transforming into a Kämpfer, becoming foul-mouthed, bitter, vindictive, and trigger-happy. She explained most of the rules of being a Kämpfer when Natsuru's own Messenger gave no such details. She is a Gewehr type Kämpfer who uses an 1911 .45 pistol and appears to be ambidextrous. In addition to having Natsuru as the first male to establish in-depth friendship with her, Akane eventually begins to harbor feelings for him, becoming jealous and easily irritable when he talks about another girl (most if not all of the time being Kaede) in front of her or when another girl takes an interest in him (whether that interest is romantic in nature or not). Despite often responding with indifference, however, Natsuru does later tell her that if Kaede were never on his mind, she (Normal form) would have been the kind of girl he "sees no problem with".


 * Shizuku Sangō (三郷 雫)
 * President of the Student Council and one of the Three Beauties of Seitetsu, she is a model student with perfect attendance record. In addition, however, she is also a Red Kämpfer fighting with the Schwert ability of wielding two chained daggers at will. She wants to expose Moderator's intentions but has no problem fighting Blue Kämpfers until that goal was accomplished. After being spared following a defeat by Natsuru, she enters a truce with Natsuru and Akane and has since taken an interest in Natsuru in a slightly sly and teasing manner, throwing him off balance with embarrassing remarks/actions while maintaining a poker face in the process, despite being constantly treated with suspicion as a result. After being invited by Kaede to visit her home and then spend the night there, however, Shizuku is seen getting inquisitive about what happens after Kaede snuck into Natsuru's bed and then wondering if she is indeed feeling jealous over Kaede getting the chance to do so. Later on she continues to give off hints that she is romantically interested in him, asking him out on a date and eventually deep-kissing him in front of Sakura and the others although her constant ambiguity again seems to become her undoing (a fact she seems to have realized, calling her love an unrequited one), as Natsuru keeps thinking that she is up to something whenever she makes an advance on him.
 * President of the Student Council and one of the Three Beauties of Seitetsu, she is a model student with perfect attendance record. In addition, however, she is also a Red Kämpfer fighting with the Schwert ability of wielding two chained daggers at will. She wants to expose Moderator's intentions but has no problem fighting Blue Kämpfers until that goal was accomplished. After being spared following a defeat by Natsuru, she enters a truce with Natsuru and Akane and has since taken an interest in Natsuru in a slightly sly and teasing manner, throwing him off balance with embarrassing remarks/actions while maintaining a poker face in the process, despite being constantly treated with suspicion as a result. After being invited by Kaede to visit her home and then spend the night there, however, Shizuku is seen getting inquisitive about what happens after Kaede snuck into Natsuru's bed and then wondering if she is indeed feeling jealous over Kaede getting the chance to do so. Later on she continues to give off hints that she is romantically interested in him, asking him out on a date and eventually deep-kissing him in front of Sakura and the others although her constant ambiguity again seems to become her undoing (a fact she seems to have realized, calling her love an unrequited one), as Natsuru keeps thinking that she is up to something whenever she makes an advance on him.


 * Mikoto Kondō (近堂 水琴)
 * Natsuru's childhood friend who only recently reunited with him due to her father being an archaeologist who lives abroad, a way of live that already made her think little of doing things others would consider far too dangerous. Although having too much pride to explicitly admit, she has feelings for Natsuru and is more than a bit bothered by the presence of a girl with the same name as his (who in reality is Natsuru in his Kämpfer form). Even after the misunderstanding is later cleared up, the advances made by Akane and Shizuku on Natsuru (Mikoto apparently does not believe Kaede would reciprocate his feelings) subsequently makes her even more nervous about her chance with him as well. When she was seeing Miss Seitetsu contest of the school festival, she caught a bouquet that Kaede tossed with a Messenger hidden in it, consequently being turned into a Schwert-type Red Kämpfer armed with a katana. Her love for curry is to the point of cooking and consuming it for every meal.
 * Natsuru's childhood friend who only recently reunited with him due to her father being an archaeologist who lives abroad, a way of live that already made her think little of doing things others would consider far too dangerous. Although having too much pride to explicitly admit, she has feelings for Natsuru and is more than a bit bothered by the presence of a girl with the same name as his (who in reality is Natsuru in his Kämpfer form). Even after the misunderstanding is later cleared up, the advances made by Akane and Shizuku on Natsuru (Mikoto apparently does not believe Kaede would reciprocate his feelings) subsequently makes her even more nervous about her chance with him as well. When she was seeing Miss Seitetsu contest of the school festival, she caught a bouquet that Kaede tossed with a Messenger hidden in it, consequently being turned into a Schwert-type Red Kämpfer armed with a katana. Her love for curry is to the point of cooking and consuming it for every meal.


 * Kaede Sakura (沙倉 楓)
 * Shizuku's childhood friend and one of the Three Beauties of Seitetsu, she has many admirers, Natsuru being one of them. She has a large collection of stuffed Zōmotsu Animal dolls and likes to present them to her friends; those who receive the dolls, however, tend to end up becoming Kämpfers. She began to develop a crush on Kämpfer Natsuru after being saved from Kämpfer Akane at the beginning of the series, later coming under the mistaken impression that the normal Natsuru is her rival for Kämpfer Natsuru's affection and consequently becoming somewhat hostile to him, a situation not helped after a misunderstanding in a very compromising situation leads her to think Natsuru is cheating on the female Natsuru. Later she is revealed to possibly have relations with the moderators as well as something to do with the appearances of the White Kämpfers and may be manipulating Natsuru's emotions to think only her. It is eventually confirmed on separate occasions when White Kämpfers swear loyalty to her and when, without possessing any bracelet so characteristic of Kämpfers, she wields both a Japanese sword and a Beretta 93R against the Red and Blue Kämpfer coalition. It is also implied that she knows that there are not two Natsurus, but one that switches gender (she personally reveals it in the anime whereas in the novel it is her White Kämpfers who would do so).
 * Shizuku's childhood friend and one of the Three Beauties of Seitetsu, she has many admirers, Natsuru being one of them. She has a large collection of stuffed Zōmotsu Animal dolls and likes to present them to her friends; those who receive the dolls, however, tend to end up becoming Kämpfers. She began to develop a crush on Kämpfer Natsuru after being saved from Kämpfer Akane at the beginning of the series, later coming under the mistaken impression that the normal Natsuru is her rival for Kämpfer Natsuru's affection and consequently becoming somewhat hostile to him, a situation not helped after a misunderstanding in a very compromising situation leads her to think Natsuru is cheating on the female Natsuru. Later she is revealed to possibly have relations with the moderators as well as something to do with the appearances of the White Kämpfers and may be manipulating Natsuru's emotions to think only her. It is eventually confirmed on separate occasions when White Kämpfers swear loyalty to her and when, without possessing any bracelet so characteristic of Kämpfers, she wields both a Japanese sword and a Beretta 93R against the Red and Blue Kämpfer coalition. It is also implied that she knows that there are not two Natsurus, but one that switches gender (she personally reveals it in the anime whereas in the novel it is her White Kämpfers who would do so).

Messengers
The role of Messengers is mainly to assist those chosen to become Kämpfers in understanding the rules and mechanisms of Kämper combat. They take the form of Entrails Animals, plush toys that are notable for having their guts sticking out. Many of them have been described in the novels as having voices similar to those of specific real-life voice actors, who would in turn do the voices for them in the anime.
 * Disembowled Tiger (ハラキリ トラ)
 * Messenger for Natsuru in the form of a tiger which wears an eye-patch. It enjoys watching the Sazae-san anime; Nomura is also the voice of one of the characters in that show.
 * Messenger for Natsuru in the form of a tiger which wears an eye-patch. It enjoys watching the Sazae-san anime; Nomura is also the voice of one of the characters in that show.


 * Suicidal Black Rabbit (セップク クロウサギ)
 * Messenger for Akane in the form of a rabbit which has bloodshot eyes. It speaks with a sarcastic tone although it is on good terms with Harakiri Tora. It enjoys watching pornography.
 * Messenger for Akane in the form of a rabbit which has bloodshot eyes. It speaks with a sarcastic tone although it is on good terms with Harakiri Tora. It enjoys watching pornography.


 * Electrocuted Wildcat (カンデン ヤマネコ)
 * Messenger for Shizuku in the shape of a wildcat bristling hairs. It enjoys watching Hanshin Tigers baseball games.
 * Messenger for Shizuku in the shape of a wildcat bristling hairs. It enjoys watching Hanshin Tigers baseball games.


 * Strangled Stray Dog (チッソク ノライヌ)
 * Messenger for Mikoto in the appearance of a strangled dog. It speaks with a subdued voice. It enjoys watching rare commercials that are only broadcast in certain regions.
 * Messenger for Mikoto in the appearance of a strangled dog. It speaks with a subdued voice. It enjoys watching rare commercials that are only broadcast in certain regions.


 * Burnt Alive Lion (ヒアブリ ライオン)
 * The oldest Messenger, its existence said to pre-date the Zōmotsu Animal toyline. The novel version of it does not have its guts hanging out of its body like the Zōmotsu Animals after it, but the anime version does. It has the same shape as a character which Kaede imagined before, with a voice similar to that of a voice actor who performs voice-overs for foreign movie stars. Kaede got it by mere chance though it is very scarce. In episode 11 of the anime, it reveals the reason behind the Kämpfer battles.
 * The oldest Messenger, its existence said to pre-date the Zōmotsu Animal toyline. The novel version of it does not have its guts hanging out of its body like the Zōmotsu Animals after it, but the anime version does. It has the same shape as a character which Kaede imagined before, with a voice similar to that of a voice actor who performs voice-overs for foreign movie stars. Kaede got it by mere chance though it is very scarce. In episode 11 of the anime, it reveals the reason behind the Kämpfer battles.


 * Hit-and-run Hippopotamus (ヒキニゲ カバ)
 * It was the Messenger for Tamiko Shinomiya. It has turned back to a plain doll since she disappeared. Kaede presented another Hit-and-run Hippopotamus to Midori Kuzuhara.

White Kämpfers
The White Kämpfers are a group of Kämpfers who follow orders from Kaede, after receiving their messengers during the Miss Seitetsu contest. Their surnames are similar to some voice actresses, who in turn voiced them in the anime.


 * Rika Ueda (植田 理香)
 * Schwert user armed with a kusarigama.
 * Schwert user armed with a kusarigama.


 * Sayaka Nakao (中尾 沙也香)
 * Schwert user armed with a sabre.
 * Schwert user armed with a sabre.


 * Ryōka Yamakawa (山川 涼花)
 * Gewehr user armed with an Uzi submachine gun.
 * Gewehr user armed with an Uzi submachine gun.


 * Hitomi Minagawa (皆川 瞳美)
 * Zauber user. She attacks by launching energy bolts against her enemies.
 * Zauber user. She attacks by launching energy bolts against her enemies.

Others

 * Kanji Higashida (東田 幹仁)
 * Natsuru's classmate who is the president of the bishōjo research club.
 * Natsuru's classmate who is the president of the bishōjo research club.


 * Yuuichi Hanzawa (半澤 友一)
 * The ace pitcher and the cleanup hitter of Baseball club. He can throw a fastball at a speed of over 150km/h, but the team is not so strong because he prefers watching midnight anime to training. He is also a member of bishōjo research club.


 * Masumi Nishino (西乃 ますみ)
 * A member of the school's Newspaper Club, she is always after the scoops and has a habit of exaggerating her findings. Childhood friend of Akane.
 * A member of the school's Newspaper Club, she is always after the scoops and has a habit of exaggerating her findings. Childhood friend of Akane.


 * Midori Kuzuhara (葛原 みどり)
 * A Gewehr-type Red Kämpfer, she was ordered to keep an eye on Shizuku, who in turn exploited Natsuru and Akane to have her sidelined.


 * Tamiko Shinomiya (篠宮 多美子)
 * Zauber-type Red Kämpfer whom Shizuku adored. She was shot dead in Shizuku's presence by a Blue Kämpfer whom she defeated and let go off.


 * Makie Ueda (植田 牧恵)
 * Rika's older sister. She gave a Zōmotsu Animal doll, presented by Kaede, to Rika. (In the anime, Rika receives her Zōmotsu Animal Doll during the Miss Seitetsu contest)


 * Another collector of Zōmotsu Animals
 * A stalker-like girl who is a student of Rakurowa High School. Natsuru and Akane talked about her when they were working at wholesaler's warehouse filled with Zōmotsu Animal goods. Actually, the stalker is a boy in female dress. He appears in Asura Cryin' with Matasaki Panda and some other Zōmotsu Animal dolls. (Does not make an appearance in the anime)

Terminology

 * Kämpfer (ケンプファー)
 * Female fighters chosen by the moderators to battle each other. Each Kämpfer has one of three types of power: Zauber (magic), Gewehr (guns), and Schwert (bladed mêlée weapons). Originally they are divided into two opposing factions, Red and Blue, but White Kämpfers are formed after a truce is reached between elements within the Red and Blue Kämpfers.


 * Bracelet of Oath (誓約の腕輪)
 * A bracelet worn by Kämpfers and comes in either blue, red, or white. This represents the Kämpfer's allegiance and also triggers the transformation as it glows. Since Natsuru would undergo genderswap upon transformation, the glow of his bracelet would also represent a warning to distance himself as necessary from those with no knowledge of the Kämpfers.


 * Moderator (モデレーター)
 * Moderator is responsible for selecting Kämpfer candidates.


 * Messenger (メッセンジャー)
 * Responsible for granting selected people Kämpfer powers, explaining how the game works, and guiding them during their battles.


 * Zōmotsu Animal (臓物アニマル)
 * An anime franchise within this series' universe . The primary characters, patterned after animals, are otherwise normal except that they all have their guts shown protruding outside of their bodies for one reason or another (having stomach ripped open, seppuku, etc.). Kaede Sakura has a large collection of stuffed animals from the franchise.


 * Bishōjo Research Club (美少女研究会)
 * An underground club. Natsuru was recommended for a special agent of the club against his will since he has contacts in the girls section for some reason.

Anime
An anime series adaptation produced by Nomad and directed by Yasuhiro Kuroda began airing in Japan on TBS on October 2, 2009. The opening theme is "Unreal Paradise" (あんりある♥パラダイス) by Minami Kuribayashi and the ending theme is "One Way Ryō Omoi" (ワンウェイ両想い) by Marina Inoue and Megumi Nakajima.