Chrome Shelled Regios

Cover of Chrome Shelled Regios volume 1 as published by Fujimi Shobo
鋼殻のレギオス (Kōkaku no Regiosu)
Genre	Fantasy, Adventure, Post-Apocalyptic
Light novel
Author	Shūsuke Amagi
Illustrator	Miyū
Publisher	Fujimi Shobo
Demographic	Male
Magazine	Dragon Magazine (short stories only)
Original run	March 18, 2006 – ongoing
Volumes	14
Manga
Author	Shūsuke Amagi
Illustrator	Miyū
Publisher	Fujimi Shobo
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Dragon Age Pure
Original run	April 2007 – ongoing
Volumes	2
Manga
Chrome Shelled Regios: Missing Mail
Author	Shūsuke Amagiike
Illustrator	Nodoka Kiyose
Publisher	Fujimi Shobo
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Monthly Dragon Age
Original run	June 2007 – ongoing
Volumes	5
Manga
Chrome Shelled Regios: Secret Side
Author	Shūsuke Amagi
Illustrator	Watari
Publisher	Kadokawa Shoten
Magazine	Beans Ace
Original run	April 10, 2008 – ongoing
Volumes	1
Manga
Kōkaku no Regiosu no 4 Koma Feri no Uta
Author	Shūsuke Amagi
Illustrator	Masumi Futaba
Publisher	Fujimi Shobo
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Dragon Age Pure (former) Monthly Dragon Age
Original run	November 8, 2008 – ongoing
Volumes	2
Light novel
Legend of Regios
Author	Shūsuke Amagi
Illustrator	Miyū
Publisher	Fujimi Shobo
Original run	June 29, 2007 – September 20, 2008
Volumes	3
TV anime
Studio	Zexcs
Original run	January 11, 2009 – June 20, 2009
Episodes	24 (List of episodes)
Light novel
Regios Crusade
Author	Shūsuke Amagi
Illustrator	Miyū
Publisher	Fujimi Shobo
Original run	March 16, 2009 – ongoing
Volumes	2
Anime and Manga Portal

Chrome Shelled Regios (鋼殻のレギオス Kōkaku no Regiosu^?) is a Japanese light novel series by Shūsuke Amagi, with illustrations by Miyū. A short story light novel series is serialized in Dragon Magazine. A manga adaptation drawn by Miyū is serialized in the shōnen manga magazine Dragon Age Pure. A second manga adaptation drawn by Nodoka Kiyose is serialized in the shōnen manga magazine Monthly Dragon Age. A third manga adaptation drawn by Watari is serialized in Beans Ace magazine. A four-panel comic strip adaptation drawn by Masumi Futaba started serialization in Monthly Dragon Age on November 8, 2008. A science fiction light novel series titled Legend of Regios is set in the past world of Chrome Shelled Regios series, and published by Fujimi Shobo under its Style-F label. The anime adaptation started airing in January 2009 and is produced by Zexcs.

Terminology

Regios: Large Mobile cities created by humans to live after Earth atmosphere became too polluted to live. Each city is named after the Electronic Fairy that controls the Regios. Most Regios avoid Filth Monster as much as possible but with the exception of Grendan, which does the opposite as it constantly finds monsters. There are two different kinds of cities; Academy Cities & General Cities. Academy cities like Myath and Zuellni are places where students from different areas come to learn & study. General cities are the main cities where most of the population lives. Due to a treaty, only Regios of the same type are allowed to have a match with each other.

Lance Shelled Grendan: The most powerful city in the world due to its regular encounters with Filth Monsters of all levels and was the birthplace of the Military Arts, which most other cities practice today. The Twelve Heavens Blades are found here under the command of the Grendan Royal Family.

Academy City Zuellni: A University City governed by its students. This is where the manga/light novel/anime takes place. Its Electronic Fairy takes the shape of a pale blue, young girl.

Academy City Gandoweria: A former city that was overrun by Pollutant Beasts not long after their victory over Zuellni two years ago. Its Electronic Fairy takes the form of an goat-like creature and is currently running amok as a Haikizoku.

Sheniebel: The city Nina Antalk grew up in, currently the only city with the Fairy Copy System which is capable of making new Electronic Fairies. Like Grendan, Sheniebel also has a royal family, which Nina Antalk is the heiress of, as seen in the manga of Chrome Shelled Regios.

Academy City Myath: An academy city like Zuellni, its electronic fairy takes the form of a red bird. In the anime, the military capabilities of this city are shown to be poor, perhaps even worse than that of Zuellni, as when attacked by a mature filth monster no resistance from the residents of the city is put up.

Transport City Yoltem: The original home city of Mayshen Torinden, Mifi Rotten and Gerlni Naruki, according to the manga. All roaming buses eventually return to Yoltem and most travelers will encounter it during their travels. Only its Electronic Fairy knows the current location of every regios.

Electronic Fairy: Special Artificial creatures that control the Regios. Created by scientists as a two-way solution of having an AI performing the many functions of a Regios while having a mind of a human for maintaining and controlling the Regios, they are the most important asset of every city. Without them, the city would die. On the other hand, the Electronic Fairy will also die if it does not have Selenium, a special ore that has many Regios fight each other for their city's survivability. An electronic fairy whose city has been ruined turns into a Haikizoku, a being which is capable of greatly enhancing a Kei users power.

Filth Monsters: Monsters roaming the polluted earth outside the Regios. Their main food sources are the pollutants they breath into the atmosphere, humans and themselves if the former cannot be obtained. They have many forms and sizes:

Larva: The first state of the Filth Monsters. Ravenous feeders, they will eat any living thing they find. They are overwhelming in number, although easily dispatched by a skilled Kei user and expert Military Artist.

Mature: A Filth Monster who has moved past its ability to procreate, the longer they live the more powerful they become. In their Mature state, Filth Monsters are able to fly.

DITE: Dites are the weapons used by Kei users. Dites are small transformable devices when unused that turn into a weapon which the user activates it by saying "Restoration". Many types of weapons can transform from Dites including crushing swords, spears, rifles, staves, katanas, and many more. Some Dites are capable to switch to many different types of weapons. The color of the Dite is not random; different colors give different properties to the weapon. For example, Nina Antalk's iron whips uses black dite, which has good density with a decreasing conductive rate. Green and white dite is used for speed-based weapons, which was suggested for Layfon Alself to use.

Kei: Source of power for Martial Artists. Kei users are special since they have an organ within their bodies that produces this energy and Kei users can use it in many ways. There are different types of Kei each with its own qualities. In the Anime it is said that the "Heavens Blade Receivers" have "monstrous" Kei that makes even the strongest Kei users look weak.

External Type Kei: Used for attack. This Kei is used in the form of a blast to affect surrounding materials.

Internal Type Kei: Used for defense and regeneration. This Kei is used to strengthen parts of the body during battle or to speed up regeneration.

Psychokinetic Kei: Users of this Kei (who are also call Nen-I users) are able to communicate telepathically as well as move objects around telekinetically. The downside of this Kei is that those who are able to use it cannot use External Type Kei.

Story

In a post-apocalyptic polluted earth overrun with mutated beasts called Filth Monsters, humanity is forced to live in large mobile cities called Regios and learn to use weapons called DITE and harness the power of Kei to defend themselves. In the Academy City of Zuellni, Layfon Alseif is hoping to start a new life and forget his past. However, his past has caught the attention of Karian Loss, the Student Council President and Nina Antalk, a Military Arts student and Captain of the 17th Platoon, who instantly recognizes his abilities and decides he’s the perfect candidate to join her group.

17th Platoon

Layfon Wolfstein Alseif: Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto; Weapon of choice: Sword or katana; The main protagonist of the series. In the novel, he is described as having tea coloured hair and blue eyes. He was one of the twelve wielders of the Heaven Blades and also held the title of Wolfstein at the age of ten. After being exiled by Queen Alsheyra for participating in underground matches for money (though it was for the children at the orphanage)^[1] he came to Zuellni as a Liberal Arts student with a Scholarship Rank D and no interest in joining the Military Arts. However, he was forced to join the Military Arts after Karian Loss, head of the student council, saw his combat potential, and blackmails him into joining with his past history, and publicly upgraded his scholarship to rank A, which automatically waivers his scholarship fees. Layfon has extremely high combat capabilities, as can be inferred from his past as a Heaven Blade, and also with the innate ability to break down Kei techniques and use them just by observation. Due to his birthplace, Grendan, being heavily involved in fighting Filth Monsters, he and fighters there developed with a 'win or die' philosophy.^[1] Consequently, he deliberately holds back in battles at Zuellni in order to conceal his past. Furthermore, Felli mentions that he has a large amount of internal kei. Some of his abilities include being able to move at high speeds^[2]^[3] and to use a technique to create illusionary clones^[4] Layfon currently works at a machinery cleaning job with Nina in the evening. His goal is still to find a dream outside of fighting, a decision he most likely made as a result of being exiled from Grendan.; Layfon's weapon of choice is a sword. In the past, his Heaven's Blade was shown to be a sword with exquisite design on the body.^[2] His current weapon is a turquoise sword made by Harley, using green Dite^[5]. During the larvae attack, Layfon requested Harley to add another setting on the sword that would produce an unknown number of golden wires that were razor sharp or as soft as a rope from the hilt.^[6] Layfon restores the sword by saying "Restoration 01" and the wires with "Restoration 02." Harley gave Layfon a separate DITE before he went to go fight the matured Pollutant Beast alone. This heavier, black blade, called Adamandite, was made to handle Layfon's kei better and is able to create blasts of air with just a swing, humorously causing Felli's hair to become messy when Layfon first tries it out.^[7] It is restored with the phrase, "Restoration A-D" and also retains the first two settings of his older DITE. Adamandite has only been used with stronger Pollutant Beasts so far. Layfon has broken his DITE numerous times: he burned it out after the first interplatoon match, burned out the Adamandite after defeating the matured Pollutant Beast, and had it broken by Haia during their first encounter. His element is also hinted to be wind, which he is able to use without a DITE. In his fight against the Dying Slave, Layfon regained his Heaven's Blade right before being taken out by Heaven's Blade wielder Savaris, most likely due to Saya's will.^[8] He used it to defeat attacking Heaven's Blade Wielder Savaris, who was also currently possessed by the Haikizoku, with ease. After receiving the DITE from Leerin, he also gained a katana. Layfon then combined both of the blades to create a katana form of his Heaven's Blade, which also had a larger form that allowed Layfon to stand on for aerial purposes. When the battle against the Dying Slave is finally over, Lintence takes back Layfon's Heaven's Blade without any opposition.^[8].; In the novel, Lintence stated Layfon was the only one he acknowledged as his apprentice. He revealed that no one was better in understanding Kei techniques than Layfon and that he had stolen skills from all Grendan's dojos. Layfon seems to have a great learning ability. Lintence states that he was surprised on how Layfon could grasp moves just by observing them.; During a meeting, it was revealed by Haia Salinvan Lyia that Layfon uses the Psyharden skill. His actual weapon is a katana instead of a regular sword.^[9] He was taught these techniques by his sensei, Derp, from the orphanage, and since Haia's sensei studied alongside Layfon's, Haia and Layfon are something of cousin apprentices.^[10] Layfon has refused to use a katana for an unknown reason.^[11] Harley gave him a grey katana based on his observation of Layfon's movements in practice, but Layfon ultimately refused to use it.^[9] Layfon fought Haia at almost full power with his regular DITE, breaking Haia's katana and injuring him in the process.^[9] Later on, it is revealed that Layfon abandoned the Psyharden techniques and his katana in order to atone for betraying Derp and making others sad. In the novel however, he used the katana to fight Haia and he retained the Katana though he continued to use the sword.; Layfon enjoys being needed by people, as seen in his action of joining the City Police though Military Arts students usually do not do such things.^[12] This is also a reason why he puts up with Karian's requests to fight the Pollutant Beasts. Layfon unenthusiastically reacted to the news of Dalshena joining the 17th Platoon in his place because it made him feel less needed by the platoon.^[13] Although he had received surgery for the fragments in his spinal cord, he was still healing and therefore had a difficult time fighting the Pollutant Beasts. ^[14] Layfon asked Felli to record the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang fighting the Pollutant Beasts in order to help the rest of platoon study their movements so that they could fight together in the future.^[14] In the novel, Layfon's way of thinking is visited. He actually responded with his fist to aggression. He was used to being subjected to jealous older fighters for being stronger and a kid. He doesn't mind about having enemies. He is very smart when in perceiving people's Kei but not so with detecting girls' feelings. He is stated not to be particularly keen with studies by the Queen.When he fight for others,he can be very determind and strong

In Chrome Shelled Regios the manga which was drawn from Nina's point of view, he is seen playing with training balls. She stated how he has trouble using his sword in a team. He is very strong in this manga. For example, he went to find water to stop a fire and ended up throwing a water tank from another building in the classroom's window. He can sometimes be very honest when he talks. Layfon's often seen smiling or confused. That is how people usually see him: polite, but while fighting, he is quite expressionless. The difference between these two states surprised Naruki as she trained with him for the first time, she also finds some sadness in him. The novel reveals that Layfon doesn't try his best when fighting in Military Arts platoon matches because he would have easily won the matches on his own if he were to use his true strength.Savaris stated that he had weaken after being expelled from Grenden, but since he wasn't fully concentrated, the opinion might not be fully accurate.

Nina Antalk: Voiced by: Ayahi Takagaki; Weapon of choice: Iron Whips; Nina is the leader/captain of the 17th Platoon and forcibly recruits Layfon into her platoon at the start of the anime series. She has blond, golden in the novel, hair and blue eyes. Her dedication caused her to get angry a lot in the first part of the series, especially when one of her squad members are late. She is in Military Arts because of her need to protect, causing her to runaway from home^[2]. When she was a child, she had attempted to protect an Electric Fairy from a Hunter. During this incident, she was knocked down a hole and was on the verge of death. However, an Electric Fairy sacrificed herself to save Nina by passing on its life force.^[15] Originally she relied too heavily on Layfon to win matches, causing a loss with another platoon.^[6] Since then, she snuck out to the edge of the barrier to practice her kei release on the shields. This combined with her standard training, practice, matches, and work caused her to overuse her kei and to faint.^[6] It is also hinted through the anime that Nina has mild romantic feelings about Layfon. Her DITEs are a pair of singlesticks, labelled as "iron whips" in the novels, made from black Dite^[16]. Nina has promised to protect Zuellini, and thus felt that losing any battle is not an option. This causes her to over-exert herself time and time again. Still, her commitment has earned the respect of her team members. After Zuellni goes berserk, Nina goes to find Zuellni as per Layfon's request. Then she encounters the Haikizoku, who reacts to her will to protect the city and possesses her.^[14] Nina wakes up to find herself teleported to the city Myath. There, she meets and becomes friends with Leerin Marfes and also encounters the Masked Wolf troops from before.^[17]. Soon afterwards, the Haikizoku resurfaces, and Myath instructes Leerin on how to save Nina. As a result, Nina reappears in the middle of a desert and is picked up by Layfon.^[18] Upon returning to Zuellni, Nina is unable to confess her situation to her friends, but Layfon believed in her regardless. Not long after, the Haikizoku forces Nina to go outside and dons her with a mask. The 17th Platoon deploys in order to find her, with Layfon finding her first. Nina attacks Layfon under the Haikizoku's influence but is defeated after Layfon pulls off her mask. Following this battle, Layfon leaves her with the rest of the 17th Platoon to combat the Pollutant Beast. Unfortunately, Savaris makes his move and kidnaps Nina. To force the Haikizoku out, he planned to torture her and even kill her until Layfon came to her rescue. Nina has hard time with her team, in the novel she stated about the trouble with Felli, Sharnid and Layfon was their morale.

Felli Loss: Voiced by: Mai Nakahara; Weapon of choice: Wand; The psychokinesis user of the 17th platoon and a 2nd year. She has silvery hair and grey eyes. She rarely speaks and shows little emotion. Like most psychokinesists, Felli receives a great influx of information in her brain, and her mind is unable to handle the strain of responding to every bit of information.^[19] Because of this, she has a hard time making common facial expressions, such as smiling. She is also the sister of the head of the student council, Karian Loss, whom she despises for making her attend the Military Arts section, just as he did with Layfon. She works part time at a cafe, which Sharnid recommended, where the waitresses dress up as maids.^[15] She kicks Layfon in the leg every time he does something wrong and will also hit her brother whenever he's being too noisy. After learning of Layfon's nickname "Lay-ton", she insisted on calling him "Fon-Fon." ^[15] She also has taken a liking to Layfon in a romantic sense, showing clear signs of jealousy by copying Shante's little act by riding on Layfon's shoulders and blushing while Layfon teaches her how to swim. When she discovers Leerin's letter, she shows slight jealousy and attempted to press the matter but was to reluctant in the end.^[12] Additionally, after Layfon is hospitalized, Felli comes with flowers. She ends up keeping them because she spots flowers already delivered by Nina, making Felli react in a childish and jealous manner. ^[13]; Felli is described as one of the most talented psychokinesists. Her DITE is a wand which holds many petal shaped pieces that are grey when inactive and are pink when active. These petals are utilized to send out telepathic messages to others. They can also transform into offensive daggers, if necessary. ^[19]^[20] Felli is also capable of synchronizing with other people's pins to make up for distances she cannot cover.^[14] She, like Layfon, dislikes fighting and almost never tries when it comes to combat. However, when the order was given to retrieve Nina before the Kei-Ra Cannon fired again, her brother wanted her to stay. In contrast to her past actions, Felli nearly attacked her brother to force him to let her go. With the display of her newly-found will to protect the city, Felli showed that she had grown after meeting Layfon.^[21]

Sharnid Elipton: Voiced by: Kishô Taniyama; Weapon of choice: Sniper Rifle, Dual Pistols; A fourth-year student and oldest of the 17th platoon. He has strawberry blond hair and green eyes. Sharnid is an excellent sharpshooter who is usually laid back and enjoys teasing other people. Additionally, he appears to have playboy-tendencies. His main DITE is a rifle, but he later obtains two close quarters pistols from Harley in order to take up multiple roles in their small platoon.^[12] He wields his dual pistols in Gun Kata-like stances. It is revealed that he originally a part of 10th Platoon but left because he felt as though he would have lost them^[10]. Sharnid asked his former teammate, Shena, to help him in a match after Layfon's injuries.^[13] Although he is a playboy, he does seem to care and have genuine feelings for Shena.

Harley Sutton: Voiced by: Daisuke Sakaguchi; The same year as Nina, and DITE-mechanic of the 17th platoon, who does not participate in combat. He has green hair and grey eyes. He is Nina's childhood friend. Harley is also in charge of creating DITEs for the platoon, including Layfon's blades and Sharnid's dual pistols, and changing the settings for the DITEs. Harley seems intent on getting Layfon to use a katana again.^[17] Harley specialises in weapon adjustment so weapons best fit their owners. In Grendan, Harley's specialisation would class him as a Dite Engineer^[16].

Citizens of Zuellni

Calian Loss: Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu; Head of the student council and Felli's older brother. He is willing to do anything to protect the city, even sacrifice his own sister to accomplish his goal of spreading Zuellni's influence.^[15] Karian's leadership skill is very good, as seen in his ability to give excellent speeches.^[17] It is shown that he does genuinely care for his sister, but his worrying over a possible relationship between Felli and Layfon caused him to hugely overreact.^[20]

Mayshen Torinden: Voiced by: Asuka Okame; A first year student of the Liberal Arts Department. A gentle and timid girl to the point of fault with long black hair, she gets extremely shy when she sees or even just thinks of Layfon. Due to her extremely timid nature she rarely talks and her speech is often stuttered and fragmented. She developed feelings for Layfon after being rescued by him at the inauguration ceremony but has yet to willingly confront him and instead leaves baskets of sandwiches for him at his room. She is a good cook who desires to one day become a baker. During episode 15 she found out about Layfon's past and caused him to be severely injured after a bridge they were standing on collapsed. Layfon saved her at the cost of being stabbed by debris.

Mifi Rotten: Voiced by: Eri Sendai; A first year student of the Liberal Arts Department. A blonde girl with two pony-tails, she is Mayshen and Naruki's best friend that has given them the nicknames "Meicchi" and "Nakki" respectively. Curious and inquisitive, she got interested in Layfon instantly at the inauguration ceremony. Her dream is to be a reporter someday so she work on a part time at the editing team of a magazine called "Weekly Look-On."^[2] Mifi came up with the nickname "Lay-ton" for Layfon,^[15] and since then, Mayshen, Mifi and Naruki all refer to him by this nickname.

Vanze Haldey: Voiced by: Youji Ueda; Captain of the 1st Platoon and the head of military arts. He helps out the president with issues concerning maintenance and budgets. His DITE is a large sword with a somewhat curved tip. He was strong enough to finish off a Pollutant Beast immobilized by Felli^[19] and take down Nina in the interplatoon match.

Citizens of Grendan

Leerin Marfes: Voiced by: Mikako Takahashi; Layfon's childhood friend who currently resides in Grendan. Both she and Layfon grew up together at the same orphanage. She supported Layfon even after his gambling incident was found out and distanced herself from the orphanage as a result.^[1] She is friends with Synola Leisler, who gropes her breasts every time they meet. Recently, she was given a box with what appears to be a DITE, which represents the fact that all the Psyharden techniques have been passed down, in it by her foster father from the orphanage. As per her father's request, Leerin travelled with Savaris, who is secretly guarding her, to Zuellni to give the item to Layfon.^[14] She also met Nina after Nina was transported by Zuellni once Haikizoku possessed Nina and gets along with her.^[17] She is said to have the origin of all Electronic Fairies within her. She admitted never having try to understand Layfon's burden, that if someone had to be angry after him for what he had done, he must be angry at them (the orphans), because he did it for them. She was revealed to be the queen's fiancé's daughter, he had fled and had her somewhere else. Her right eye seems to be a link with Saya as she appeared in it. Like some other female characters, she has feelings for Layfon. Her eye is called Vine Eye and is said to be Ailen's eye, someone Saya wants to be reunited with and so care for Leerin.

Queen Alsheyra: Voiced by: Akeno Watanabe; The Queen of the Lanced Shell City, Grendan, her full name is Alsheyra Almonise. Despite being a queen, she is also one of the 12 Heaven's Blade successors^[25]. Recently, she has refused to return to the palace, wandering around under the alias of Synola Leisler while leaving Kanaris to cover for her. She is concerned by Layfon's actions and is waiting to have the 12 Heaven Blades reunite. She met Leerin in a meadow one day, and they have been friends since.^[15] She may be somehow related to Leerin. She has a habit of rating other people's breasts and is particularly fond of Leerin's. She appears to be vastly stronger than any of the other Heaven's Blades. Her pressure is needed to manage the Heaven's Blade successors. Kanaris revealed that she uses her kei to look younger.; Despite her actions as Synola Leiser, Queen Alsheyra is shown to be extremely strict with the Heaven's Blade wielders. She is not afraid to kill them if necessary, and her word is absolute to them.^[3] . However, she seems quite interested in their lives, she knew that Layfon wasn't really careful with his studies and thus was surprised he had been accepted in Zuellni's scholarship. She also stated that Layfon's exile was due to immaturity and his lack of world's perception and bears no grudge against him. Regardless, she is still protective of Leerin. In response to Leerin's question, Alsheyra has said that it is not impossible for Layfon to return, but whether he wants to or not is not an issue for her to deal with, especially since he is a Psyharden.^[9]. She revealed Leerin could have been her daughter but, her fiancé fled and had her elsewhere. She wanted Leerin to have a normal life but remarked about how she had chosen her way, like Layfon had. In the novel, It's revealed that there are three branches to Grendan's royal family and that they intermarry each three generations. She states her life is meaningless without 12 Heaven's Blade and hinted Layfon and all people related had been forgiven by the Royal family so only left the public.

Derp Psyharden: Voiced by: Tohru Furusawa; Layfon and Leerin's foster father from the orphanage in Grendan. He taught Layfon the Psyharden techniques throughout Layfon's childhood. He and Leerin left the orphanage after taking Layfon's side during the gambling incident in Grendan. Derp gave Leerin a box which contains a DITE to recognize Layfon for learning all of the Psyharden techniques. He and Haia's master were brother apprentices. Leerin revealed that he had forgiven Layfon a long time ago. In the novel, he stated Layfon needed forgiveness especially toward himself because he was sober and dull. He also revealed he had a katana ready for Layfon but he finished to teach him the Psyharden skills when he was very young and he lost his chance to give it to him afterward since he used a sword. He knew Layfon refused to inherit of them because he felt guilty about his wrongdoing and betraying.

Gahard Vallen: Voiced by: Tetsu Inada; A Grendan military artist who dreamed to become a Heaven Blade wielder. He was Gorneo Luckens' senior which the later admired him due to his constant years of training to become a member of the Heavens Blade. During a tournament held to select the newest Heaven Blade wielder, Gahard's dreams were crushed with him humiliated after losing to a 10-year-old Layfon who became the winner of the tournament. Since that incident, he held a grudge against Layfon. A few years after this, Gahard got evidence of Layfon's participation in illegal underground matches. He blackmailed Layfon with this evidence to get Layfon to have an official match with him and have him purposely lose, so he would gain the Heaven's Blade, along with the title; however, Layfon instead tried to kill him, but only managing to dismember him. Though Gahard lost, he still managed to expose the scandal.^[4] Not long after Layfon's exile, Gahard was possessed by a Pollutant Beast. Although those who are possessed by a Pollutant Beast are no longer mentally conscious, Gahard retained his consciousness somewhat, but he became insane; he killed the referee from his match with Layfon, and targeted both Leerin and her father, believing they were responsible for the lose of his "title".^[1] He ran away from Leerin and her father after Grendan appeared, only to be met by Savaris and Lintence's golden wires. Gahard was tied down by Lintence and ultimately taken down by Savaris as punishment for trying to kill Leerin and her father and revenge for destroying Layfon's reputation.^[1]

The Heaven's Blades

The Heaven's Blades are twelve DITEs given to the strongest twelve Military Artists in Grendan, who possess great fighting skills and large amount of kei, by the Grendan Royal Family. So far, five of the Heaven's Blades have been revealed: a sword, a pair of gauntlets, a pair of glove controlling golden wires, a gun^[26], and a lance^[26]. Those who have a Heaven's Blade are referred to as Heaven's Blade wielders and receive a middle name as a title.

Four other Heaven's Blade have been identified although their wielders have not. They are: a huge meteor-hammer with a morning star club belonging to a large, dark-haired man with red and black armor; a bow and arrows utilized by a tall, elderly man; an axe-scythe halbeard used by a purple-haired man with glasses and a white coat; and a shield that appears to be able to reflect attacks held by a short man in full armor. None of them appear to have a grudge against Layfon for his actions which led to his exile. It's stated some find him weak because he didn't succeed in killing Gahard. They were eager not to let him be the only one to show off after his battle with the second dying slave.

Savaris Qaulafin Luckens: Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe; Heaven's Blade Format: Gauntlets; He is seen in episode 1 and other episodes of the anime and is one of the 12 wielders of the Heaven Blades, his weapon of choice is a pair of gauntlets. He has long silvery hairs. He seems to have little regard for his allies as he attacked a filth monster when Layfon was still on it, but this could have been because he wanted to test Layfon's abilities. He has a younger brother named Gorneo Luckens, who is the leader of the 5th platoon on Zuellni.^[4]; Savaris has currently been assigned to protect Leerin while letting her run free, a task he finds troublesome, by Queen Alsheyra. He appears to have some ulterior motives concerning Haikizoku in general, most likely due to his desire to experience a greater power, though he didn't hide it from the queen. He later stole the Haikizoku power from Nina and in a fit of rage attack Layfon, nearly killing him until his Heavenly Blade returned to him and defeated Savaris in one strike. Lintence revealed that Savaris had left but stated about how he will come back soon. In the novel, it's revealed he became Heaven Blade Receiver at 13. He seems to be the less manageable by Kanaris' statement.

Lintence Savoled Haden: Voiced by: Daisuke Kirii; Heaven's Blade Format: Gloves; As one of the 12 wielders of the Heaven Blades, Lintence utilizes a pair of gloves that can control multiple golden threads. He has a very serious and to-the-point personality. A flashback showed that he helped train Layfon.^[6] He was later fighting with a large Filth Monster attacking the city along with the rest of the wielders, minus Savaris, who was defeated by Layfon after he tried to kill him. Lintence was also informed along with the rest of the Heavenly Blade Wielders that Layfon has regained his blade. After the battle, he retrieved Layfon's Heaven Blade. In the novel, it is revealed that Lintence taught Layfon the basic to use steel threads, though there was some kind of mutual law between Heaven Blades to each other because they had to become stronger alone. Lintence has stated he acknowledges Layfon as his only apprentice. In the past, he was overwhelmed by Layfon's shocking learning rate to learn Kei-related techniques of all kinds just by observation. He is also the strongest Heaven Blade among the twelves/elventh.^[27].

Kanaris Earifon Rivin: Heaven's Blade Format: Rapier; The Heaven's Blade wielder with dark, long hair, purple eyes, and a veil over her face. She is most often seen with Queen Alsheyra. Whenever Queen Alsheyra leaves the palace, Kanaris is left to act for her by transforming into her appearance.^[15] However she complains the other Heaven's Blade wielders don't want to listen to her. She continuously begs for Alsheyra to come back but to no avail. She has a very careful and serious nature. While Alsheyra does appreciate this fact, it also can anger her. For example, Kanaris researched the connection between Leerin and Alsheyra and was nearly strangled to death by Alsheyra for doing so.^[3] Still, she does seem to know the connection between the two. Her Heaven's Blade is a rapier. ^[21] In the novel, she is often disguised as the Queen, but asked her to come back because although the City could be managed with Kanaris and the parliament, Kanaris lacks the authority to command the other Heaven's Blade successors^[27].

Barmelin Swattis Nolne: Voiced by: Mariya Ise; Heaven's Blade Format: Gun; The gothic member of the Heaven Blades. Her Heaven's Blade is a gun that can also transform into a cannon-like weapon.^[21] She uses bad language and is ill-tempered. She was seen fighting off the Wolf Brigade with Dixerio Maskane, though she thought he was the intruder at first and didn't really fight with him, not even answering his question about her Heaven Blade. And she was also present in the battle with a large Filth Monster and of Layfon's return as a Heaven's Blade weilder. She complained about how her appearance was late.

Cauntia Valmon Farnes: Voiced by: Ayumi Fujimura; Heaven's Blade Format: Guan Dao; The long, pale-haired Heaven Blade wielder. Her weapon of choice is shown to be something of a pole-bladed halbeard similar to a Guan Dao in the opening of the show. In the first episode, she reprimands another Heaven's Blade wielder for giving Layfon weak advice. She states that the only thing you need to do with Pollutant Beasts is dash in and slash them, apparently finding a battle with them easily. Queen Alsheyra responds with even higher standards for Layfon. She didn't want Layfon to be the only one to show off in the filth monster battle. In the novel, she seems to be close to Reverse.

Troiatte Gavanest Frandin: Voiced by: Takashi Kondo; Heaven's Blade Format: Cane; He is the purple haired man that was send with Lintence, Cauntia and Reverse to fight the dying slave.

Delbone Quantis Myuura: Voiced by: Toshiko Sawada; Heaven's Blade Format: Psychokinesis staff; She is the old wolman with a veil on a rolling chair and that doesn't seem to open her eyes while transmitting information to Lintence, Savaris and Layfon on their fight. She doesn't seem to take part in the battle. In the novel, her flakes nearly form a five petaled flower as she talk to Felli.

Ruimei Garrand MacRing: Heaven's Blade Format: Ball and Chain; Wearing a samourai-like armor, he fought against the wolf masked clan in the maze.

Tigris Noieran Ronsmaia: Heaven's Blade Format: Bow and Arrow; He looks like a monk, shaved with a long white bearb and he is seen fighting against the wolf masked group to protect the secret room under Grendan's palace.

Karuvarn Geordius Midontto: Voiced by: Youji Ueda

Reverse Irjinas Elmen: Voiced by: Gô Shinomiya; Heaven's Blade Format: Shield; He is the one in armor that was at first advising Layfon not to be nervous on his first battle as a Heaven Blade Wielder. Cauntia stated he has always spirited word, comparing the dying slave to an onion. In the novel, his face is seen, round, and he seems to be quite close to Cauntia.

Layfon Wolfstein Alseif: Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto; Heaven's Blade Format: Sword; As stated in his main article above, Layfon was previously a Heaven's Blade wielder until he was exiled from Grendan. His Heaven's Blade was in the form of a long Sword, with gold design on it, made with white Dite^[28] that he received when he was 10, being the youngest Heaven's Blade successor. As a child, Layfon was particularly adapt at understanding and using Kei skills of all kinds by observation, including special techniques gleaned from almost all of Grendan's different dojos^[27].; Later on, a warrior named Gahard Vallen challenged Layfon for his Heaven's Blade title, but tried to blackmail him into giving up his Heaven's Blade with proof of Layfon's participation in underground matches as the blackmail material. In retaliation, during the match, Layfon attacked and cut off Gahard's arm as recompense, though he was aiming for a lethal attack. Seeing this Queen Alsheira ordered the capture and, later, the exile of Layfon.; When confronted by Savaris, who was possessed by the Haikizoku, the Heaven Blade came back to Layfon when Savaris was about to kill him and eventually merged with his Psyharden katana, becoming a mix of katana and sword, and big enough to let Layfon fly on it like a board. Later on, the sword was returned to Grendan, but it is unknown if it remained a sword or a katana. While it is acknowledged by the Queen that Layfon was exiled to keep the city calm, it is unknown if he still actually remains one within Grendan.

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Saturday, April 16, 2011