Bamboo Blade

Kendo coach Toraji Ishida accepts a challenge with a delicious prize: a year's worth of free meals if his girls can defeat a rival school's team. First he needs enough girls to compete. Quiet freshman Tamaki Kawazoe, whose swordsmanship far exceeds her unassuming appearance, becomes his best hope.

As contrasting personalities fill the Muroe High dojo, practice brings friendships, friction, and opponents who demand more than raw talent. For Tamaki, joining the team means stepping beyond the television heroes she admires and discovering what it means to support others, lose, and pick up her bamboo sword again.