Kämpfer (けんぷファー) is a Japanese light novel series by Toshihiko Tsukiji, with illustrations by Senmu. The series contains 15 volumes, published by Media Factory under their MF Bunko J imprint between November 2006 and March 2010. The main series covers 12 volumes, while the remaining three are short story collections. A manga adaptation by Yu Tachibana started serialization in the April 2008 issue of Monthly Comic Alive. A 12-episode anime adaptation aired in Japan between October and December 2009 on TBS, and concluded in 2011 with Kämpfer für die Liebe.

Plot

Natsuru Senō attends a high school that separates boys from girls. He has a crush on school beauty Kaede Sakura, who has a peculiar collection of Entrail Animals (臓物アニマル), stuffed animals styled in brutal ways of dying. One day, Natsuru discovers he has turned into a girl. His stuffed tiger named Harakiri Tora awakens and tells him that he has been chosen as a Kämpfer (ケンプファー), a female fighter who must fight against other Kämpfer that are not part of their team as indicated by a colored Bracelet of Oath (誓約の腕輪). Natsuru attracts the attention of various girls at school who are Kämpfer, including a shy bookworm girl, Akane Mishima, who transforms into a gunslinging loudmouth, the beautiful but scheming student council president Shizuku Sangō, and later Natsuru's childhood friend, Mikoto Kondō. Natsuru is sometimes able to change back to being a boy, but because his emotions might transform him, he must then live as a male student as well as a female student with the same name at the school while keeping his switching identity a secret. To complicate things, Sakura herself is strongly attracted to Natsuru's female form, and seems to be tied to the overall formation of the Kämpfer. Later stories involve Natsuru and the girls involved in fights with other Kämpfer groups. Originally the Kämpfer are divided into two opposing factions, Red and Blue, but the White Kämpfer are formed after a truce is reached between elements within the Red and Blue Kämpfer.

Characters

Main characters

Messengers

The role of the Messenger (メッセンジャー) is mainly to assist those chosen to become Kämpfer in understanding the rules and mechanisms of Kämpfer combat. They take the form of Entrails Animals, stuffed animals that are notable for having their intestines sticking out from their bellies and names referring to different methods of death. Many of them have been described in the novels as having voices similar to those of specific real-life voice actors, who would in turn do the voices for them in the anime. There are five major Messengers in the anime series.

Supporting characters

White Kämpfers

The White Kämpfers are a group of Kämpfers who follow orders from Kaede, after receiving their messengers during the Miss Seitetsu contest. Their surnames are similar to some voice actresses, who in turn voiced them in the anime.

Media

Light novels

The light novel series written by Toshihiko Tsukiji, with illustrations by Senmu, were released under Media Factory's MF Bunko J imprint, with 15 volumes released between November 24, 2006 and March 25, 2010. The main series covers 12 volumes, while the remaining three are short story collections.

Manga

A manga adaptation, written by Tsukiji and illustrated by Yu Tachibana, began serialization in the April 2008 issue of Monthly Comic Alive. The first tankōbon volume was released on October 23, 2008; ten volumes have been released with the last being on July 23, 2013.

Anime

A 12-episode anime series adaptation produced by Nomad, directed by Yasuhiro Kuroda, and written by Kazuyuki Fudeyasu aired in Japan on TBS between October 2 and December 17, 2009. The opening theme is "Unreal Paradise" (あんりある♥パラダイス) by Minami Kuribayashi and the ending theme is "One Way Ryō Omoi" (ワンウェイ両想い) by Marina Inoue and Megumi Nakajima. The anime has been licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks. Distributor Section23 Films, through its Sentai Filmworks division, released the series in a complete collection on January 18, 2011. An additional two episodes, titled Kämpfer für die Liebe (けんぷファー)), were screened at an event held at Odaiba Cinema Mediage theater in Tokyo on March 6, 2011, with only one of the episodes aired on TBS on April 8, 2011. Sentai Filmworks re-released the series on Blu-ray with an English dub on May 28, 2019.

Reception

Theron Martin of Anime News Network called the series a "spiritual descendant" of Maze: The Mega-Burst Space and Ranma ½ which feature characters who regularly switch genders, but is a "harem comedy." However, Martin argues that the action-oriented and harem-oriented elements are not balanced in the series, with the harem comedy stronger, and said that the "perverse and sometimes twisted sense of humor" of the show works best, and even says that while there is fan service, it is "fairly tame by recent standards." He also said that the music score has "fun little themes" and said the plot "is a mess."