Characters / Hitogatana

Anti-Katana Crime Division

In General

The Anti Katana Crime Division (対刀犯罪課, Tai Katana Hanzaika), commonly abbreviated as AKCD, is an organization designed to hunt down and prevent the unlawful use of katana. The division is composed of numerous squads, each employing their own katana to combat illegal katanas.

AKCD Eighth Squad

Togusa, inscribed katana Yatsuka no Tsurugi (八握の剣, Eight Grip Sword)

The main character of the series who struggles with the fact that he is half-human and half katana. He was created by a woman named Amamiya Kyouko

• Absurdly Sharp Blade: His swords, which cut through other katana like butter.
• Berserk Button: Calling him Yatsuka. Saying katana are weapons.
• Beware the Nice Ones
• Character Development: A lot happened before the manga even started. Apparently Togusa used to be "vicious" and would fly off the handle if you called him Yatsuka. In chapter 3 when Inuzuka does it without realizing it's a sore spot, he just calmly asks him to call him 'Togusa' instead.
• Cool Sword / Katanas Are Just Better: As a katana, one of his unique abilities is to produce various blades from his body.
• Do Not Call Me Yatsuka: Does not like being called "Yatsuka", his name as a katana, insisting that he isn't an "object".
• Half-Human Hybrid: He's half-katana, half-human. Whether this means he's a human made into a Cyborg or the result of Organic Technology is unclear.
• I Am Not a Gun: His philosophy on both himself and katana in general.
• Meaningful Name: not so much the name itself as that Yachiyo and Tsukiyama gave it to him as his 'human' name.
• Mystical White Hair: He has white hair and is half-human half-katana. This is not remotely a normal or common phenomena.
• Nice Guy: A very nice and polite guy to everyone, although it's been alluded that he wasn't always so nice.
• Parrying Bullets: He's been shown deflecting or cutting down bullets aimed at him.
• Supreme Chef: Yachiyo was the one who suggested he learn.
• Team Mom: Does most of the cooking, cleaning and housework and nags Yachiyo to pick up after herself.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?

Yachiyo Seri

Togusa's partner in the AKCD, she rides the katana Tsurumaru.

• Boyish Short Hair: She's a Tomboy Action Girl with very short hair.
• Cool Big Sis: To Togusa. They literally even call each other 'brother' and 'sister', and think of each other like real family.
• Does Not Like Tomatoes: To the point that Togusa can influence her by threatening to make her entire meal out of tomatoes.
• Drunken Master: Averted. Being drunk messes up her fighting.
• Hot-Blooded: loves a good battle.
• I'm Taking Her Home with Me!: to Hahagiri.

  Yachiyo: Togusa, I've decided. I'm making her my little sister.

  Togusa: Don't add to your family with a knee-jerk reaction!

• Lad-ette: Loves lounging around and drinking, and never picks up after herself.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: When she bothers to wear nice clothes to meatings and such, she actually looks respectable instead of a frat-girl.
• Shorttank: A part of her standard Lad-ette wardrobe or "I Don't Care" clothes, with a short tank top that shows off her whole stomach and baggy sweat pants.
• Victory Pose: Likes to strike them in her Katana.

Inscribed katana Tsurumaru (鶴丸, Crane Circle)

The katana ridden by Togusa's partner, Yachiyo Seri.

• Ambiguous Gender: It's very tall but it also has really long hair, with it's longcoat covering most of the katana's body it's hard to tell what gender, if any, it is.
• Badass Longcoat: A long black one that's really threatening.
• Creepily Long Arms: Really long arms, nearly down to the ground. They really do make the katana look inhuman and threatening.
• Extendable Arms: The arms and hands can extend and latch into things.
• Shock and Awe: The hands can produce an electric shock to incapacitate other katana.

Tsukiyama Jūzō (月山重蔵, Tsukiyama Jūzō)

The Eighth Squad's most senior member, as well as 'Swordsmith' and leader.

• Cool Old Guy: The oldest squad member, they tend to call him 'old man'.
• Eyepatch of Power: Wears an eye patch on his right side to cement his Cool Old Guy status.
• The Engineer: He's the 'swordsmith', meaning he maintains the katanas.
• The Leader: Head of Squad Eight.
• Mission Control: When Yachiyo and Togusa go out, he stays behind at their base of operations, where Yachiyoo's body is while piloting her katana.
• Team Dad: To Squad Eight. He's the disciplinarian but he's also a pretty nice guy, looking out for their interests and throwing parties.

Amano Hahagiri

A living katana adopted by Squad Eight after being found in a MadScientist's basement. She's kind and curious about the world and trying to learn what it means to be human.

• Abusive Parents: Her 'father' who kept her locked up, never able to see the outside world and just observed her suffering. He told her, "There is not a single person aside from me who can understand an existence so alien as as yourself."
• Damsel in Distress: Kidnapped technically three times in quick succession: first from her father by her father's assistant, then (technically) from him by the AKCD, and then from Squad Eight by her father again. She is then rescued by the AKCD once more.
• Friendless Background: Since she grew up in isolation
• Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter: An artificial one, at least.
• Mundane Object Amazement: From being locked up. She always asks Togusa what various objects are. She excitedly asks about a kite, for instance.
• Robot Girl
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?
• When She Smiles: She never smiled before leaving her father's lab, when she first does after that it's a big deal.

Other Members Of AKCD

Minamoto Kaede

Leader of the Fourth Squad, she rides the inscribed katana "Shishiou"

• Drill Sergeant Nasty: When Inuzuka doesn't seem to be paying attention, she sentences him to bunny hops on the temple stairs.
• Silk Hiding Steel: A prim and proper lady...who also kicks ass. Togusa's voice-over says: "She may seem docile at first glance...but she's surprisingly tough!"
• Stoic Spectacles: She wears glasses and is very enigmatic.
• Unusual Eyebrows: her brows are literally two circles.

Inuzuka

A member of the Fourth Squad and Kaede's subordinate, he rides inscribed katana "Gokotai". Noted for being unable to read the atmosphere.

• Awesome by Analysis: Perhaps surprisingly, his main asset is his observation abilities regarding his opponents.
• Butt-Monkey: constantly scolded by his seniors for obliviously doing or saying something dumb.
• Irony: The guy who can't read the atmosphere's main asset in battle is his observational abilities.
• Mecha-Mooks: his katana's special ability is it can control a bunch of small robots that can hassle the enemy and drive him into a corner.
• Non-Action Guy: Even though he Pilots a katana, his primary strategy is to hang back and provide support while analyzing his opponent.
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Constantly sticks his foot in his mouth, like bringing up Togusa's berserk button on the first meeting.

Shikoku Shirou

Leader of the Sixth Squad, he rides inscribed Katana "Kiku-Ichi-Monji"

• The Ace: His skills are said to be "Top-Notch"
• Benevolent Boss: To his own squad.
• Cool Big Bro: Has this kind of vibe and is laid back and Nice.
• Closet Otaku: he has a late-night anime character as his phone background.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: has a scar across his lower face and neck.
• Nice Guy: He chides Kaede on her harsh punishments and says "Carrot and Stick" and "everything in moderation".

Hiyama Shinobu

Leader of the Second Squad, who rides the inscribed katana "Kogarasumaru". Shares a past with Yachiyo.

• The Ace: Very responsible and reliable and highly respected as a katana pilot, Shinobu gives off this kind of vibe. Shinobu also is noted to have the ability to pilot katana for very long periods of time, up to three days, which is double what Yachiyo can.
• Cool Shades: wears them as Kogarasumaru them to hide that it's a katana.
• The Faceless: Required to attend meetings riding a katana, so no one ever sees Shinobu's face. Yachiyo is an exception, since they have a shared past.
• The Reveal: Three of them! Firstly, the Shinobu we are first introduced to is revealed to actually be Shinobu's katana. Later it's revealed that Shinobu is actually a young ''girl''. And even later it's revealed that she was part of a group of kids who were in a secret program to train ace katana pilots.
• Ridiculously Human Robots: Is first introduced while piloting a katana, and there's no way to
• Momma's Boy: Justifiably devoted to a sick grandma. Shinobu even wants to cut a work-meeting short to hurry and get home to give her medicine.
• Samus Is a Girl: Is actually a young girl.

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