Onechanbara
OneeChanbara (お姉チャンバラ), initially defined The OneeChanbara (THE お姉チャンバラ), is a series of action-adventure hack and slash video games developed by Tamsoft for D3 Publisher's Simple 2000 series for the PlayStation 2 and later ported on Xbox 360, Wii, PSP, PS3, PS4 and cellular phones. The title is a portmanteau of the Japanese words onee-chan (お姉ちゃん, lit. "big sister", but also a colloquialism for a young adult woman) and chanbara (チャンバラ, "sword fighting").
| Onechanbara | |
|---|---|
 The cover of Simple 2000 Vol. 61: The OneeChanbara | |
| Genre(s) | Hack and slash, horror |
| Developer(s) | Tamsoft |
| Publisher(s) | D3 Publisher |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows |
| First release | Zombie Zone August 7, 2004 |
| Latest release | Onechanbara Origins December 5, 2019 |
The hack and slash gameplay involves the player controlling Aya, a scantily-clad cowgirl who wears a scarf and wields a katana. The player is pitted against hordes of zombies and nightmarish boss creatures, who spill torrents of blood when they are attacked. Aya is often accompanied on her adventures by several other warrior women, such as her younger sister Saki, who appears in most titles in the series.
In 2008, a film was released in Japan titled OneChanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad as the first film based on the Simple series game.[1] A straight-to-DVD sequel of the film entitled お姉チャンバラ THE MOVIE vortex or OneChanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers was released in 2009.
Gameplay
The OneeChanbara series puts players in control of a lone girl (or in later games, two girls with the ability to tag out) against a legion of the undead. Players guide their characters through the stages, completing tasks while hacking through enemies. The player-character's weapon becomes progressively covered in blood, causing their attacks to be slower and to inflict less damage, even getting stuck in enemies if it gets too bad. This is represented by a "Blood Meter" showing how dirty the weapon is. To prevent this, players must actively clean off their sword to keep the blood meter from filling up.
In addition, there is also the "Blood Lust" meter. As a character kills enemies, this meter starts to fill. Once the meter is full, the character will go into a "blood frenzy". This gives the character an increase in attack power, but drains health. To recover from a blood frenzy, the player must use statue items, which are dropped by dead enemies. Additionally each level will contain a large statue. Going to the large statue will remove the blood frenzy and also recover any lost health.
Unlike the stereotypical zombies, most of the undead encountered in this game series are not automatically killed by decapitation; some would continue to attack even after losing their upper torsos. This is briefly explained in OneChanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers by the notion that, while humans killed due to infection with bodily fluids of the undead will be zombified, most undead are not re-animated corpses but are merely made by some supernatural power that created them to look similar to humans.
Series
The OneeChanbara series includes several upgrades and sequels that have been released since the original game:
| Region | Original Release | Platform | Japanese Title | Western Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  |
2004.08.26 | PS2 | Simple 2000 Series Vol. 61: The OneeChanbara (SIMPLE2000シリーズ Vol.61 THE お姉チャンバラ) |
Zombie Zone | The first game in the series. |
| |
PS2 | Simple 2000 Series Vol. 80: The OneeChanpurū ~ The Onechan Special Chapter ~ (SIMPLE2000シリーズ Vol.80 THE お姉チャンプルゥ ~THE 姉チャン 特別編~) |
Zombie Hunters | The OneeChanpurū is an upgraded version of The OneeChanbara and includes two new characters: D3 Publisher idol Riho Futaba and her younger sister Makoto. Chanpurū is the name of an Okinawan meal, while oneechan means "big sister". | |
|
2005.12.22 | PS2 | Simple 2000 Series Vol. 90: The OneeChanbara 2 (SIMPLE2000シリーズ Vol.90 THE お姉チャンバラ2) |
N/A | A sequel to the original game, it features a new female playable character. |
|
PS2 | Simple 2000 Series Vol. 101: The OneeChampon ~ The Onechan 2 Special Chapter ~ (SIMPLE2000シリーズ Vol.101 THE お姉チャンポン THE姉チャン2特別編) |
Zombie Hunters 2 | An upgraded version of The OneeChanbara 2 featuring returning characters Riho and Makoto, as well as the female warriors Kiku and Hana, the stars of Dragon Sisters. Champon is the name of a Chinese meal. | |
 |
Xbox 360 | OneeChanbara VorteX ~ Imichi o tsugu mono tachi ~ (お姉チャンバラvorteX ~忌血を継ぐ者たち~) |
Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad | It was released on the Xbox 360 console and supported online features. | |
|
2006 | Mobile | The OneeChanbara Mobile (The お姉チャンバラモバイル) | N/A | It features illustrations by character designer Kengo Yonekura. |
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Wii | OneeChanbara Revolution (お姉チャンバラ Revolution) | OneChanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers | It came packaged with a CD of music from the previous OneeChanbara games. | |
|
2011.03.31 | PSP | OneeChanbara Special (お姉チャンバラ SPECIAL) | N/A | |
|
2012.01.19 | Xbox 360 | OneeChanbara Z ~ Kagura ~ (お姉チャンバラZ ~カグラ~) | N/A | |
|
2013.11.07 | PS3 | OneeChanbara Z ~ Kagura ~ With NoNoNo! (お姉チャンバラZ ～カグラ～ With NoNoNo!) | N/A | |
|
PS4, Microsoft Windows | OneeChanbara Z2 ~Chaos~ (お姉チャンバラZ2 ～カオス～) | Onechanbara Z2: Chaos | [3] | |
|
PS4 PC |
Onechanbara Origins (お姉チャンバラ ORIGINS) | Onee Chanbara Origin |
Aya, the series' main character, has also appeared in Simple 2000 Series Vol. 91: The All*Star Kakutou Matsuri (released as All-Star Fighters in Europe in March 2007 [4]), a fighting game featuring characters from many different Simple 2000 series releases. Saki has been featured in a cell phone D3 fighting game as well.
A set of 6 (8 if the 2 secret variations are counted) official gashapons was released in Japan on January 4, 2007 by Yujin. The set consists of characters from the series, including Aya and Saki from the first game, Reiko and Riho from the third and fourth games respectively, and Aya and Saki from the mobile game.
Other media
Films
The live-action film adaptation of OneeChanbara was made starring Eri Otoguro, Manami Hashimoto, and Tomohiro Waki base. It was directed by Yohei Fukuda, and the executive producers on the film were Hideki Tsujhata, Takafumi Ohashi, and Shunsuke Yamada. The extended version of this film under the title OneChanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers was released on DVD in Japan on July 3, 2009.[5] The theme song is 69 Balloons by Aural Vampire.
References
- "ポロリもあるよ!? 『お姉チャンバラ』映画製作発表記者会見が開催」". Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- http://gematsu.com/2015/07/onechanbara-z2-chaos-european-release-date-set
- Joe Sigadel (July 1, 2015). "Press Release: Onechanbara Z2: Chaos Launches On July 21". Oprainfall. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
- "GameFaqs – All Star Fighters for PlayStation 2".
- "Meet The Stars Of New Onechanbara Movie". Kotaku. 2009-04-09. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
