World Trigger (Anime)

World Trigger, also (Wārudo Torigā-Japanese name) is Japanese anime series, written and illustrated by Daisuke Ashihara. An anime adaptation of the series produced by Toei Animation started airing on 5 October 2014, with the series ending on April 3, 2016. while the manga adaptions were on long-term hiatus due the creator serious illness. First I will talk about the series, which revolves around different events.

Photo by Zerochan

In Mikado City, a “gate” to a different world is opened suddenly one day, where monsters called “Neighbors”start appearing from it, everyone after the gate is opened for the first time, Yūma Kuga, a humanoid Neighbor, comes to Mikado City, where he meets Osamu Mikumo, a Border agent. then a whole new adventure of battle and new foes begins.

Now i will talk about the Characters, Border, Unit, Branch, ranking system/ battles, Triggers Origin, Black/Normal Triggers, Triggers class/abilities, Side Effects. Each of this is interesting and fascinating and watching it in action is awesome. The fights are serious and epic.

Characters

There over 118 relevant characters in the series, and over 150 in totals. each focus on specific stories whether focusing each of them in groups or individuals. The main Characters in the series focus on.

Border Agents

Yuma Kuga:

One of five main characters in manga and anime series. He is B- rank attacker and Known neighbor. He is one of few Black trigger holder. Yūma has a laid back personality and is not very knowledgeable about Japanese customs, due to being from another world (despite having a Japanese father).

Replica:

He is a guardian and one of the five main characters of WT. It is a self-described “multi-task Trion Warrior”. Replica always provides advice for Kuga, telling him what’s right and wrong. However, it does not interfere in Yuma’s direct decisions as it believes Yuma’s choices are his own. It also assists him in battles

Chika Amatori:

She is one of the five main characters in the manga and anime and WT and the main heroine of the series. She is a B-Rank sniper. Chika is very shy, and rarely says much. She has very few friends, because she voluntarily distances herself from others. She believes that she’ll just get hurt when those she gets close to get kidnapped by the Neighbors.

Osamu Mikumo:

He is one of the five main characters in the series WT.  He is a B-Rank shooter and captain. Osamu is a very honest person, as noted by Yūma Kuga who has the ability to discern lies and is thus very trusting of Osamu. Osamu is very determined and courageous always going out of his way to help others even if it puts himself in harm’s way.

Takumi Rindo:

He is Border’s Branch Chief. Takumi is a calm and care-free type,  Unlike most members of Border, he doesn’t hate Neighbors, and he firmly believes that they can be friends of humans.

Tsukihiko Amo:

He is a S-Rank agent and a Black Trigger user. His has a troublesome behavior and pose a security threat for Border if publicly displayed. He seems to be a thorough person, to destroy a large portion of the Forbidden Zone when defeating trion Soldiers during the invasion. He also seems to enjoy challenges, and is bored by weak opponents. He has Side effect to see colours of people of their strength.

Kei Tachikawa: A-class leader of Tachikawa Unit and the number 1 agent overall. Due to his actions.

Masamune Kido: He is Border’s highest person in charge. Due to his actions, he is the main antagonist of the Black Trigger Retrieval Arc. Kido is a serious and strict person, and dislikes anyone who breaks the rules of Border.

Masafumi Shinoda: He’s the most powerful person in HQ with a normal trigger. Masafumi is a person who cares first for people’s safety. He will do anything to protect innocent people, but unlike most people at Border, he doesn’t hate Neighbors.

Neighbours (Aftokrator, Galopoula, Ergates)

(Aftokrator)

• Hairein
• Enedra
• Mira
• Hyruse
• Lamvanein
• Viza

(Galopoula)

• Koskero
• Wen So
• Reghindetz Ratarikov
• Yomi

(Ergates)

• Xeno
• Lilith
• Gleve
• Charon
• Lamia

Border

Border is a big agency in Mikado City. It was created for the sake of protecting the city from neighbors attacks. They fight the Neighbors by the means of Trion and triggers, the technology of Neighbors. Border was designed to be a secret organization with the purpose of travel an intermediary relationship between ‘Earth’ and Neighbors. Along with its establishment, Border has made an Alliance with three neighbors nations and uses the building that has now become Tamakoma’s base as its headquarters.

Between its establishment and 6 years before the start of the series, Border had 19 people within its ranks. However, about a year later, an allied nation was invaded by a hostile nation and when Borders sent its forces to assist, 10 out of 19 members died, with some becoming black triggers. After the incident, the organization split into two, one became the current headquarter and the other became Tamakoma branch.

About 4.5 years before the start of the series, Border made its first public appearance when the first large-scale invasion occurs. Soon after that, Border built their Headquarters in the middle of an area known as the Danger Zone and started to recruit new members to build up the army and strength for future invasion.

Units

They are a group of border agents that consists of at least one combatant and one operator and the maximum number of four combatants and one operator.

(A Rank)

• Tachikawa Unit – A 01
• Fuyushima Unit – A 02
• Kazama Unit – A 03
• Kusakabe Unit – A 04
• Arashiyama Unit – A 05
• Kako Unit – A 06
• Katagiri Unit – A 07
• Kizaki Unit – A 08

(B Rank)

• Ninomiya Unit – B 01
• Kageura Unit – B 02
• Ikoma Unit – B 03
• Mikumo Unit – B 04
• Oji Unit – B 05
• Azuma Unit – B 07
• kuruma Unit – B 06
• Katori Unit – B 09
• Suwa Unit – B 10
• Arafune Unit – B 11
• Nasu Unit – B 13
• Chano Unit – B 18
• Mamiya Unit – B 21

Branch/Faction

There is 6 branches in border all have different roles within and outside the organization. personnel that isn’t aiming for A rank are placed outside danger zone in C rank helping mostly with locals and evacuations. Acting as contact point for locals.

The 6 branch are:

• Tamakoma
• Suzunari
• Wataayu
• Yumite District
• hayanuma
• Hisama

Ranking System

Rank Battles inside Border are official matches fought between agents as training and to increase their ranking. Rank Battles are divided into Solo and Team Match. In Team Match, they are fought between 3 or 4 teams at a time, with the team with the lowest ranking having the right to choose the stage. Rising to no.1 or no.2 in the B-Rank battles gives the team the right of challenge to rise to A-Rank.

Triggers Origin

A Trigger is a Neighbor’s technology that is powered by trion. It is mainly used for combat purposes, but it also has other functions. Borders provide battle triggers to their combatant, while C ranks get a training trigger.

The mechanics of the Trigger differ from neighbors nation to nation. As for Border’s Trigger,their Trigger is installed in a chip located inside the device which contains eight- slots that can install at most eight different Triggers.

The Triggers are divided between Main and Sub Trigger, where each takes four slots. The Main Triggers are automatically set to the User’s dominate hand. The Sub Triggers are automatically set to the user’s non-dominate hand, whichever hand that is. Typically, the user can only activate two Triggers at a time, one each from main and sub.

Each Trigger uses a certain amount of the User’s trion, even just by equipping. Each person are able to equip a different amount of Triggers, depending on their trion capacity. Once activated, the User’s real body is stored within the Trigger and replaced with a Trion Body constructed from the User’s Trion.

The ability and strength of a trigger is directly influenced by an individuals trion value, as shown by Yuma, people who use the same trigger to fight will have a different outcome depending on their trion values. Therefore once a person has runs out of trion, they will be defenseless and unable to activate the trigger.

Black/Normal Triggers

Black Trigger

They come from user with immense trion abilities and in order for the power to be left in the real world after death, created a special trigger to pump the trion and life into black trigger. they represent the user personalities and must be compatible to activate the power. In order for their power to be left in the world after their death, created a special trigger that pump their whole trion and life into it.

Black Triggers strongly reflects the sensitivity and personality of the person that created it. One of its weaknesses is that it cannot be activated if there isn’t compatibility between the user and the creator’s personalities, but its performance is incomparable to a common trigger. These triggers are very rare due to the sacrifice required to create them, though it has also been noted that Neighbors avoid driving enemy countries into a pinch because it increases the likelihood of black triggers being created.

Triggers Class/Abilities

Default Triggers

• Bagwrom – A cloak that renders the User invisible to Radar. It consumes trion while in use.
• Shield – A barrier that able to block opponent’s attacks. Its size can be adjusted, but it will affect its durability.
• Radar – Used for detecting enemies within a certain area, but this trigger can be avoided by the use of Bagworm
• Bail Out – This function destroys the trion body and returns the original to Border’s base; it is triggered automatically when the trion body is destroyed in battle. Trainee triggers used by C-rank agents do not have this because it is too costly to equip all trigger holders with this function.

Attackers Triggers

(Basic)

• Scorpion – A light-weight blade speed oriented attackers use often, The blade can materialize at will and weighs nothing. You can attach the blade to something besides your hand. By adjusting trion it shape and length can be modified. On the other hand it’s not very durable
• kogetsu – The most popular all-purpose blade, unlike the Scorpion, it is not easily taken out. Its pretty heavy and you can’t change its shape or length, but it is balanced in high durability and striking strength.
• Raygust – A defensive trigger with a blade that can be transformed. The blade transforms like the Scorpion. It has low offensive power and it’s very heavy, but possesses high stamina and has a shield mode that increases durability in exchange for reduced attack power.
• Sogetsu – Kirie’s personal Trigger. A pair of knives that are used in conjunction. It is a Trigger exclusive to the Tamakoma Branch. By using the connector of the knives becomes a battle-axe.

(Special)

• Kogetsu ( Spear Form)- Yoneya’s custom Kogetsu that takes the form of a spear. The length of its grip can be adjusted accordingly.
• Kogetsu (Axe Form) – A battle-axe which is the combined form of both of Kirie’s knives, combined using the Connector.

Gunners Triggers

• Asteroid – This trigger does not have any special qualities, but shoots bullets that are more powerful.
• Hound – A Trigger which shoots guided bullets that target and pursue the opponent.
• Viper – This trigger allows the user to change the trajectory of their bullets as they are shooting them, allowing the user to hit an opponent even if they attempt to dodge.
• Meteora – This trigger shoots bullets that create large-scale explosions once they hit the target. It can also be timed to explode after some time and combined with Spider to create tripwire traps.

(Composite)

• Tomahawk – The fusion of Viper and Meteora. It can create lines of fire, like with Viper, and then shoot explosive bullets, like the Meteora.
• Gimlet – The Gimlet is created by combining two Asteroids’ trion cubes. It has enhanced Armor-Penetration abilities capable of breaking the rabbits armor when used by a skillful shooter.
• Salamander – The fusion of Hound and Meteora. Uses Hound’s tracking ability to track the User’s opponent(s), similar to Meteora, explodes upon impact.
• Cobra – The fusion of Asteroid and Viper. The exact nature of its ability is currently unknown.
• Hornet – The Hornet is created by combining two Hound’s trion cubes. The exact nature of its ability is currently unknown.

Sniper

(Basic)

• Eaglet – It’s an all-purpose rifle focusing on range. The higher the the trion the longer the distance.
• Lighting – It possesses low power but it has a fast bullet speed and has increased accuracy. It also has rapid fire, which allows the user to pepper its enemy with low-power bullets. The higher the trion the faster the bullet speed.
• Ibis – It possesses high power but it has a slow bullet speed and has low accuracy. It is used in fights against colossal neighbors. The higher the trion the more powerful it becomes.

(Advanced)

• Black Lighting – A trigger created by loading Lightning with lead bullets instead. But required  an insane amount of trion because lead bullets cost alot of trion and in order to increase bullet speed using lightning

(Optional Triggers)

• Bagworm: A cloak which prevent prying eyes stalking the user being detected in battle, it is most fundamental equipment for snipers.
• Chameleon: Used mainly for stealth attacks, rendering the user invisible until spotted and attacked it is useless as it trion consuming.
• Grasshopper: A directional air platform which allow the user to propel themselves in any direction mid-air battles.

(Trapper)

• Switchbox – A specific trigger for Trappers, it creates traps of various effects, both for attack and support. It can also be combined with the Headquarters ‘s trion to create more powerful traps. They can be activated at will, and reused multiple times.

(Optional triggers for Attackers)

• Gen’yo: Exclusive to kogetsu, it activates blade or tip blade to move freely transformed.
• Senko: Exlusive to Kogetsu, allows to extend length of the blade for various attacks.

(Tamakoma Optional Triggers)

• Connector: exclusive Optional Trigger for Sōgetsu that combines two into a huge axe. The trion consumption is high, but the power is immense. It is possible to deactivate Connector at any time. It is Kirie Konami’s personal Trigger.
• Full Arms: This Trigger enables the user to use all Gunner Triggers at once, allowing them to wield one in the right hand and one in the left. It is Reiji Kizaki’s personal Trigger.
• Geist: A unique trigger that allow the user body to enhanced certain triggers or abilities further than normal triggers. There is five Shift modes, each shift blades increase speed and stamina, power of the weapon. Specific characterisistc of the geist triggers is unknown.  It Kyōsuke Karasuma’s personal Trigger.

Aftokrator Triggers

• Chelidon – A powerful trigger which can shapeshift into different configurations, such as an arm cannon, a Jet Pack and a projectile bullet.
• lamypris – Controls magnetic shards with a “glove” on their arm. The shards can be used to be embedded into targets, causing them to be magnetically attracted to the user. They can also be used as a reflective shield, or for camouflage.

Aftokrator’s Standard Triggers and Equipment

• Cape: Black triggers are endowed with acting armor that allow them to shrug off any physical attacks as well blocking effects of triggers such as lead bullet.
• Horn trigger: heavily guarded military secret, Horn Triggers are trion receptors that are permanently implanted in the heads of young children to dramatically improve their trion capacity and quality as they grow.

Galopoula Triggers

• Despinis – Allows the user to generate spheres that act as blades.
• Nikokyra – Allow user to generate slime. The slime can cover blades to dull them, or on limbs to make them slippery and prevent friction
• Servitora – Trigger reflects the user’s image, creating three-dimensional holograms. These duplicates are optical illusions, and as such possess no offensive power, but are useful in disorienting the opponent. The copies possess a trion signature, which prevents an Operator from finding the real one.
• Thugater – unknown trigger used by Reghindetz
• Vasilissa – Each arm has great power, enough to pierce, lift and throw a large amount of rubble..They can also be moved quickly and have a relatively long reach. The arms are also very durable, withstanding the assaults of Border’s normal Triggers, with the exception of Kirie Axe, a special Trigger.

Side Effects

A side effect is based on 4 sensory abilities manifested in certain individuals with high trion levels. they are categorised as

S – Extrasensory Perception
A – Superhuman Ability
B – Special Constitution
C – Enhanced Senses

Side Effect Holders

• Yūichi Jin: Seeing a little of the future of those before him.
• Yūma Kuga: Seeing through the lies of others.
• Chika Amatori: Sensing approaching enemies and hiding her trion signature.
• Yōtarō Rindō: Communicating with animals.
• Shirō Kikuchihara: Enhanced hearing
• Kō Murakami: Enhanced stabilization, consolidation of memory during sleep
• Masato Kageura: Receiving emotion aimed at him from other people
• Tsukihiko Amō: Viewing others’ fighting ability as colors.
• Yomi: Perfect Parallel Processing , which allows him to multi-task at maximum efficiency.

Overall the characters, the triggers and the stories were amazing to watch and enjoy. the fight scene are epic and I look forward to the return of the series. The anime series was different to other anime and most focus on romance, magic,sport or military aspect. World Trigger had little romance, serious battle strategy and strong warriors and power of friendships. I hope everyone check out the series and enjoy it like I did.