CHANBARA AU:S (FOR WESTERN LITERATURE)

CHANBARA OTHELLO - The first one, the AU that started this whole jidaigeki trend:
Oni no Me mo Mi-mo Namida (Even Ogres have Tears in their Eyes)

Ever since he was orphaned and fled persecution from the Catholic League and Inquisition in his native Low Countries (so it's 30YW times or such) by stowing away on a clipper, Louis has been a stranger in this strange island nation as rent by war as the Europe he left behind. Towering head and shoulders over everyone else, blond, blue-eyed, bearded, and burned rosy by the hot sun, he's had to struggle for his life, and for a niche in the establishment, ever since he landed here as a pre-adolescent.
With his second-in-command, personal translator, and boyhood friend Ritsu-kun, an Osaka lowlife, stevedore, and interpreter with his wits about him (and who sees the fair leader as more than just a friend), Louis Vreeswijk, now called Aka-Oni (Red Ogre), leads a rebel group against the shogunate.
However, a botched castle-storming has the paths of Louis and Ritsu cross with those of Ayame, a spirited, kind-hearted heiress (and daughter of the iron lady dowager Kikuhime); aside from her adopted brother and childhood playmate Hideki, and her intended fiancé Ryóga. By Ayame's and Hideki's side, Louis finally sees that there are those who love him, instead of dreading him, for his strange features, seeing the man instead of the monster... and the feeling is mutual, reciprocated.
Too sorry that a jealous Ritsu takes advantage of Ryóga's shyness, Hideki's weak head for liquor, and finally Louis's deepest fears about Ayame... all to keep the one he loves all for himself...

Cast:

• Louis Vreeswijk (Othello)
• Ayame Sengakuji (Desdemona)
• Ritsu (Iago)
• Ryóga (Roderigo)
• Hideki Kisaragi (Cassio)
• Akira (Emilia/Bianca; also significantly an onnagata, ie a crossdressing actor)

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SHARED FRENCH UNIVERSE - CHANBARA AU

This is a series of jidaigeki vignettes set in the Edo period, with a backstory in the Warring States era before, that fit together like the pieces of a puzzle - each story, originally a subplot in the original French novels, is standalone, but connected to the others by a series of common elements - the figure of Gozen-sama, rebels and courtiers seeking to depose the shogunate, the shinsengumi (praetorian guard), the wars of the past era, the performing arts -and the all-female Izumo Okuni troupe, one of a kind against the mainstream, foreshadowing Takarazuka-, xenophilia vs. xenophobia...


Tachibana-ichizoku (Danglars): wealthy bourgeois from Osaka, the spotlight is on them in "Izumo no Michi" (The Road to Izumo - compare La route de Belgique)

• Yúto Tachibana (Julien Danglars)
• Michiru Tachibana (Hermione Victoria Danglars)
• Akira Tachibana / "Akio Tsubaki" (Eugénie Danglars / "Léon d'Armilly")
• Kaede Tsubaki (Louise d'Armilly)
• Tachibana-jiiya (Étienne)
• --
• "Prince André d'Orange" / Yukio Fubuki ("Andrea Cavalcanti" / Benedetto); a Eurasian bastard child, raised by an ashigaru who found him in the snow - now posing and completely performing as a royal prince of his real father's native land...
• --
• Okuni of Izumo / Izumo no Okuni (historical character, fills in the roles of the Italian theatre directors who employ Eugénie and Louise - employs Akira and Kaede in her all-female troupe)

Pluijter-ichizoku (de Villefort): immigrants from the Low Countries who, in spite of the racism they encountered, have risen to become prominent Edo-based magistrates. However, the patriarch's remarriage has created a dysfunctional household, with a scheming stepmother and an annoying little brat of a stepbrother:

• Geeraert "Geert" Pluijter (Gérard de Villefort)
• Renate Pluijter+ (Renée de Villefort+) 
• Valeria Pluijter (Valentine de Villefort)
• Cornelia "Oma" Pluijter (Composite character of Noirtier de Villefort + Mme. de Saint-Méran)
• Willem "Will" (Barrois)
• ---
• Asagao Pluijter (Héloïse de Villefort - her given name means both "convolvulus" and "datura" >:3 )
• Shinobu-Edward Pluijter (Édouard de Villefort)
• ---
• Masayoshi (Maximillien Morrel; a stateless ronin)
• Sayuri "Yuri-chan" (Julie Morrel; a war orphan and Masayoshi's adopted sister)

Jiyuu no Nakama (Amis de l'ABC): a rebel group at war against the shogunate and shinsengumi (praetorian guard) - they have their base at an izakaya, coming from different walks of life:

• Atsushi "Enji" Kurenai (Enjolras): lordling, the aloof leader. Wears a blond wig and actor's make-up courtesy of Fujiko -is naturally Asian, raven-haired-.
• Kakeru (Combeferre): the scholar of the group, and the only sane man as he says; wears spectacles
• Kenpachi Sengakuji (Courfeyrac): lordling, uses his umbrella/parasol as a weapon, concealing a rapier within the cane and spinning it around for hypnotic effect, as well as using it for a parachute
• Fujiko (Fujitaka) Hanasaki (Jehan Prouvaire): lordling, an onnagata who provides the group with atrezzo and costumes - including Kurenai-kun's blond wig and make-up he uses for the Enji identity; he became a crossdressing performer to overcome stage fright
• Tsukasa Yakushiji (Joly): a meek, hypochondriac medicine seller and lovable eccentric - the medic of the group
• Daikaku "Dai" (Grantaire "R"): idealises Enji-sama and would gladly die for him. A witty self-made trickster from Osaka and left-handed/left-footed drunken master of martial arts (drunken monkey/drunken fist style) who often signs with 大 the kanji for "dai/big" alone (much like Grantaire signs with a capital R)
• Takashi "Ushiwakamaru" Yoshizane (Feuilly/Lesgle composite): an orphan from Hokkaido with a bald head and impossibly bad luck, he works at the izakaya where the others hang out
• Yuuma Jinbashi (Marius Pontmercy): a translator and interpreter working for Europeans; disowned scion of the Narunogawa-ichizoku due to his father, Jinbashi-sama (the surname literally translates to "mercy-bridge"), being a freedom fighter. Finally, he marries Tsubame Kisaragi

Kang-ichizoku (Korean immigrants who have risen to prominence in the military):

• Kang Jong-il (Ferran Mondiego de Morcerf): a shinsengumi captain - who betrayed the lieutenant of his company to become next in line, and that was only his first atrocious feat - commits seppuku at the end of it all 
• Kang Chun-hyang (Mercè / Mercedes Mondiego de Morcerf): Not originally his fiancée, but he forced her into marriage. Is very close to her boy, whom she dotes on and whose real father is a secret she keeps
• Kang Yong-koo (Albert Mondiego de Morcerf): an innocent and sheltered young man of high rank whose life is suddenly overturned when Gozen-sama saves his life and frees him from a brigands' lair...
• Frans van de Doornroose (Franz d'Épinay): Yong-koo's European best friend since childhood. Holds a grudge against the Pluijters in general, and Geert Pluijter in particular. Frans is also in love with Yong-koo; 'tis a pity his beloved is straight!

Gozen-sama (The Count) and his entourage of European servants

• Gozen-sama (real name ****???): (Edmond Dantès): a sailor from Osaka, marooned since he was accused of plotting against the shogunate, now he has returned in French court dress and with a new identity
• Heidi (Haydée): a coast pirate from the Low Countries and Gozen-sama's mistress, adopted daughter, and overall personal assistant
• Han (Ali): another coast pirate from the Low Countries, a bear of a man, and Gozen-sama's bodyguard (looks like Han Solo mashed up with Chewbacca)

The Kagurazuka Ryoukan (The Sergeant's Inn - also the Bell and Bottle counterpart in Izumo no Michi):

• Ritsu Kagurazuka (Sgt. Thénardier): former arquebusier (ashigaru)
• Azusa Kagurazuka (Mme. Thénardier) ran the family inn even unmarried, before marrying the surnameless ashigaru whom she nursed back to health
• Isuzu Kagurazuka (Éponine Thénardier) - also, like Akira Tachibana, she is fond of the all-female Okuni Troupe as well as having feelings for Yuuma
• Karin Kagurazuka (Azelma Thénardier)
• "Gaku" Kagurazuka (Gavroche Thénardier)
• ---
• Tsubame -later adopted and surnamed Kisaragi- (Cosette Fauchelevent)

Kisaragi-ichizoku (not a proper clan, since it only consists of an older benefactor and his adopted child):

• Yonjuuro Kisaragi -real name Shuntaro, surnameless- (Jean Valjean / Ultime Fauchelevent)
• Tsubame Kisaragi (Cosette Fauchelevent) - later marries Yuuma and becomes Tsubame Jinbashi (Cosette Pontmercy)
• ----
• Toshiro Hijikata (Javert) - a real-life shinsengumi lieutenant and the founding father of the corps, of peasant birth and orphaned as a young child - here he takes on the role of Javert

Sengakuji-ichizoku (main branch of the clan):

• Shinichiro Sengakuji (Philippe de Chagny)
• Shinjiro Sengakuji (Raoul de Chagny)
• ---
• Christina Sengakuji, née Daaé (Christina Daaé); a refugee from the Low Countries who got on the wrong boat as a child when she and her father were about to leave for Sweden due to Habsburg persecution; was adopted by the Sengakuji brothers - she is also the latest member of the Okuni Troupe
• ---
• Nadeshiko Hanasaki (Carlotta Giudicelli) - a proper lady and the star of the Okuni Troupe; Christina's rival. She is also Fujiko's sister (Fujiko of Jiyuu no Nakama), although no one would tell
• Hinagiku Shiroi (Meg Giry) - Christina's confidante; her name translates literally to "white daisy"

Narunogawa-ichizoku -high-ranking elite courtiers, faithful to the shogunate-

• Yoshizane Narunogawa (Luc-Esprit Gillenormand): the patriarch, a century-old eccentric
• Kikuhime Narunogawa+: the prodigal daughter, who ran off with a rebel and died in childbirth
• Suiren Narunogawa: the dutiful daughter, Yuuma's aunt and governess
• Suiren's children: a shinsengumi lieutenant and a pampered little girl