ZANSHIN (斬心 LINGERING MIND) is TSUKINO PRODUCTION's setting for the 2021 animate Girl's Fair, more commonly known as AGF. Taglines for the settings describe it as "TSUKIPRO's Combined 2021 Air Stage" (2021年ツキプロ合同エア舞台 2021 En TSUKIPURO Goudou Ea Butai).
Overview[]
The new setting was first revealed when SolidS & QUELL on STAGE's third series was announced on March 31, 2021, at the end of their sixth episode.
Not much in terms of lore has been released so far for the ZANSHIN setting, but it is loosely intended to feature a traditional Japanese style described by Mikoto Tsukino as "the type of Japan that Western movies imagine Japan to be like".[1]
CLASSes[]
Within the ZANSHIN universe the characters are allocated one of nine different CLASSes:
- General
- Colonel (決戦 Kessen lit. Decisive Battle)
- Major (修羅 Shura lit. Carnage)
- Captain (戦略 Senryaku lit. Strategy)
- Lieutenant (英傑 Eiketsu lit. Hero)
- Officer (金剛 Kongou lit. Indestructible)
- Sergeant (烈火 Rekka lit. Conflagration)
- Corporal (気鋭 Kiei lit. Energetic)
- Private (鉄心 Tesshin lit. Iron Will)
Soldiers are assigned their CLASS according to their relative strength, with the majority of forces being allocated into the "Private" CLASS.
General[]
General is the highest ranking within the ZANSHIN hierarchy.
Currently within ZANSHIN there are six known members in the General CLASS, though previously there were seven prior to the demotion of Shiki Takamura to the CLASS of Corporal for disobeying orders. Unlike other CLASSes the kanji title used to denote General differs between each character; each respective Generals "title" is denoted below. In the case of Shiki, his title prior to demotion was Kakuen (赫焉 lit. Radiance).
Another distinguishing trait of the Generals is that two of them (Hajime & Shun) have two sets of portraits; one set where half of their face is covered by a mask, and a second set with their face uncovered.
Members of the General CLASS are:
- Hajime Mutsuki (至極 Shigoku lit. Best)
- Shun Shimotsuki (絶世 Zessei lit. Unrivalled)
- Takaaki Mamiya (臥龍 Garyū lit. Unrecognized Genius)
- Roa Mikaze (御影 Mikage lit. Divine Spirit)
- Sora Ohara (蒼帝 Aoi Mikado lit. Azure Emperor)
- Shu Izumi (盟約 Meiyaku lit. Covenant)
Colonel[]
Colonel (決戦 Kessen lit. Decisive Battle) is the second highest ranking within the ZANSHIN hierarchy. Currently there are seven known members in the Colonel CLASS:
Major[]
Major (修羅 Shura lit. Carnage) is the third highest ranking within the ZANSHIN hierarchy. Currently there are five known members in Major CLASS:
Captain[]
Captain (戦略 Senryaku lit. Strategy) is the fourth highest ranking within the ZANSHIN hierarchy. Currently there are seven known member in the Captain CLASS:
Lieutenant[]
Lieutenant (英傑 Eiketsu lit. Hero) is the middle ranking within the ZANSHIN hierarchy. Currently there are seven known members in the Lieutenant CLASS:
Officer[]
Officer (金剛 Kongou lit. Indestructible) is the fourth lowest ranking within the ZANSHIN hierarchy. Currently there are six known member in the Officer CLASS:
Sergeant[]
Sergeant (烈火 Rekka lit. Conflagration) is the third lowest ranking within the ZANSHIN hierarchy. Currently there are three known members in the Sergeant CLASS:
Corporal[]
Corporal (気鋭 Kiei lit. Energetic) is the second lowest ranking within the ZANSHIN hierarchy. Currently there are only two known members in the Corporal CLASS:
Private[]
Private (鉄心 Tesshin lit. Iron Will) is the lowest ranking within the ZANSHIN hierarchy, and accounts for the majority of the fighting forces within the setting. Currently there are no known members in the Private CLASS.
Related Media[]
Similar to previous special settings incorporated into the TSUKINO universe, several pieces of media have been released in relation to the ZANSHIN setting so far, including two stage plays and two CDs.
For the stage plays, there is the seventh episode of SolidS & QUELL on STAGE, ZANSHIN -Chiioaki no Asa ni。-, which premiered in December, 2021. The second play is the twelfth episode of TSUKIUTA STAGE, Ura ZANSHIN -Children are sometimes ruthless and cruel.-, which is scheduled to debut in March, 2022.
In addition to the plays are two theme CDs, one for the setting of ZANSHIN as a whole and one for the SQ play, both titled ZANSHIN -Mukei no Yae-. It is expected that the TSUKIUTA. play will also be accompanied by at least one new theme CD as well.
Translation Notes[]
＊ The term zanshin has several connotations or readings but the most common is "lingering mind"; a term from martial arts meaning to have a sort of relaxed alertness, or being prepared for a counterstrike.
References[]
- ↑ Originally from TSUKIPRO Twitter, English translations provided by ameagarinoUFO on Twitter.