Dancing Blade: Katte ni Momotenshi! (Dancing Blade かってに桃天使!, lit. « Dancing Blade: Capricious Momotenshi! ») is an Anime Interactive Movie / Visual Novel hybrid game series, by Konami.
Created in the wake of the success of Sony's Yarudora series, the Dancing Blade series distinguishes itself from the Yarudora series with a 100% Interactive Anime experience (unlike the Yarudora series' use of a few still shots sprinkled in the movie footage), but at the expense of a simpler branch system.
The story takes place in a Fantasy feudal Japan, mixing traditional architecture and clothing with magic, fantastic creatures, and technology; it also pokes fun at various Japanese folktales and myths.
The Dancing Blade series tells the story of Momohime, a young girl born from a peach, who's searching for her origins. Travelling along with the unnamed Main Protagonist, a magician and her Childhood Friend she has a (mutual) crush on, they'll meet during her quest several characters who become their True Companions: Oinu, a kind and meek demon dog assuming the form of a young girl, specialist in light and healing magic; Sarukichi, a giant mechanized man, expert in firearms and gadgets; and Kijime, a fun-loving Femme Fatale who excels in fire magic and at whipping people.
A light-hearted tale with lots of wacky moments and a few dramatic scenes, it's very akin to Japanese anime of The '90s like Tenchi Muyo! and Slayers, and as such, was never released outside Japan.
The Dancing Blade franchise comprises two games, both released on PlayStation and Sega Dreamcast, and later re-released as a bundle on Play Station Network; as well as three Drama CDs.
The Dancing Blade: Katte ni Momotenshi series as a whole provides examples of:
- Action Girl: All three heroines, who kick ass with magic, and in the case of Momohime and Kijime, weapons as well. Suzuna from Tears of Eden also counts, she's a fierce Powered Armor pilot.
- Chick Magnet: The main protagonist, who has the affection of all three main heroines, as well as Nayotake's in the 1st game, and Otsuhime's and eventually Suzuna's in Tears of Eden.
- Cool Sword: Momohime's sword, Hakutoumaru. Along with being an Orphan's Plot Trinket, it also morphs into an Oddly Shaped BFS when Momohime turns into Momotenshi, that allows Momotenshi to fly when she's riding it, let her launch waves of energy, and can protect her like a shield.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: One of the Running Gags in the series is Oinu being so in love with the main protagonist, she's too eager to heal him at the slightest hint of wound or illness, resulting in her overdoing it when using her healing powers on him and blowing him to Ash Face.
- Defeat Means Friendship: How Sarukichi, and to a lesser extend Oinu joined the team:
- Sarukichi's case is an exact replica of Oolong's arc in Dragon Ball (just switch Goku with Momohime as the decoy girl);
- As for Oinu, she fought to get revenge on Momohime eating her grandmother's Gingerbread House, but backed off when the Main Protagonist, whom she has a crush on, pulled a Standing Between the Enemies stunt and calmed down the situation.
- Flight: In Momohime's band, Sarukichi (via his Powered Armor's Jet Pack) and Kijime (via magic) have this ability. They have to carry the other members during emergency cases.
- Gender Flip: Momohime is a female version of Momotarō, the boy born from a peach from the Japanese folktale.
- No Name Given: The main protagonist, in the games. In the Drama CDs, he gets "Kimimaru" as a Canon Name.
- Powered Armor: Sarukichi wears one equipped with lots of gadgets, weapons, and a Jet Pack, at all times. Due to that, it's not until Tears of Eden the player can get glimpses of his human appearance. It turns out he's a tall, but slender Long-Haired Pretty Boy!
- Super Mode:
- Momotenshi is initially viewed as a Split Personality version of this for Momohime. In Tears of Eden, Momotenshi is revealed as the original personality, having been reborn as, and sealed inside Momohime, and sent to the lower Earth as punishment for a sin she committed in Eden.
- And in Tears of Eden, Oinu and Kijime get a Super Mode as well, via artefacts given to them during the story.
- Transformation Sequence: Momohime has one when she goes under her Super Mode; and in Tears of Eden, so do Oinu and Kijime.
- Transformation Trinket: Hakutoumaru acts as one for Momohime; and in Tears of Eden, so do the legendary dog collar and lance for Oinu and Kijime respectively.
- Whip of Dominance: Kijime is a master of the whip, using it flawlessly in battle and her idea of showing her affection to the protagonist is to willy-nilly whip him (to the point it's lampshaded by Momohime in Tears of Eden); as it's one of the Running Gags of the series, it's always Played for Laughs.
- Youkai: Oinu is an Inugami (demon dog) type. She has the appearance of a young human girl, but has dog ears in her hair that pop up from time to time. The intro movie of Tears of Eden hints that she has a giant, grey-coated dog true form.
Dancing Blade: Katte ni Momotenshi! (the 1st game) provides examples of:
- Bound and Gagged: Kijime does this to Momohime in order to Put Her On A Bus for the majority of Kijime and Oinu's storyline.
- Precocious Crush: Nayotake develops a one-sided one towards the main protagonist.
- Sick Episode: This is the basis of Oinu and Kijime's scenario in this game, as the protagonist falls ills there, and they're competing for being the one who'll be the best at taking care of him, with hilarious results.
Dancing Blade: Katte ni Momotenshi II: Tears of Eden provides examples of:
- Attack Its Weak Point: The Big Bad in the main route's climax is Nigh-Invulnerable, shrugging off physical and magic attack alike with a force field. The main protagonist has to destroy the tiara on his head first, before he can destroy his sword and defeat him.
- Emotionless Girl: Suzuna initially seems to be this, but she's actually a kind girl who just hardly shows her feelings.
- Love at First Sight: Otsuhime, towards the main protagonist. However, since she's a Shrinking Violet, she has troubles at spitting out her feelings, so her sisters try to help her.
