Part 17: Yanagita Rikao's Sengoku Basara Science Laboratory

As with my posts covering the earlier parts, this is an extremely rough English translation of part of the blog series Yanagita Rikao's Sengoku Basara Science Laboratory (Yanagita Rikao Sengoku Basara Kagaku Kenkyuujo). Please click the link below to see the original article, which is accompanied by illustrations and promotional videos.

Part 17: Lifting up a luxury cruise ship!? Tsuruhime

'Pure white and lovely' Tsuruhime is a happy-go-lucky girl. Dressed in priestess attire, which resembles the barbarian-style clothing that would later be called a sailor fuku, she dashes through the battlefield without a single attendant, holding a strung bow and countless arrows. Her objective is to protect the sea of her home. Having spent her girlhood in seclusion she knows no fear and scolds rough men, "You guys in the pirate crew, please don't throw rubbish into the ocean!". At the same time, without even knowing the real name of cool-headed ninja Fuuma Kotarou, she's deeply attached to "the one with twilight wings" and keeps him close to her heart. It's unthinkably aggressive, for a Lady of the Sengoku period. However, it's worrying that this lovely young girl is out on the field of battle. Will Tsuruhime be alright?

The best rapid fire abilities in the Warring States

It's definitely fortunate that Tsuruhime's weapon is a bow. With it, she can take aim and fire from a distance without clashing directly with the enemy. She's probably not as strong as the other warlords so this is the ideal weapon. Her skill with the bow is significant, too. She repeatedly fires approximately one shot every second, always hitting her mark. How does this compare with a real archer?

It's said that ten arrows can be fired in one minute with a Japanese bow. As this means that it takes six seconds to fire each arrow, Tsuruhime must be able to fire six times more quickly than an ordinary person. So long as she doesn't run out of arrows, she can kill 60 people within the space of a minute. It's likely that she'll go down as a legendary master of the bow. Furthermore, with the unique ability 'Araya No Kawashiya' she fires five arrows simultaneously while jumping backwards. In order to do this, presumably she has to nock five arrows on a single bow string; is this possible in the real world?

When I asked an archer I am acquainted with, who previously competed at National level, I was told to first mention that they have no experience of this. "Since the string of the bow digs into the nock at the rear end of the arrow, when you try to draw the lowest arrow in the stack of five back, it won't be possible. The problem is that the five arrows rest on the thumb of the left hand, which holds the bow. While you may be able to do it if you stacked them up cleverly, there'd be no power - let alone control.". In spite of this, all five of the arrows hit their mark and Tsuruhime completely defeats the enemy. She's a genius with the bow!

A strong-armed girl, invincible in the Warring States

The scary thing about Tsuruhime's bow is that as well as being skilled, she's strong. When Tsuruhime performs a backflip for the unique skill 'Nayuta Issen', the bow becomes about twice as long. Tsuruhime fixes this to the ground, holds the string with both hands and draws the bow using her back muscles. From there, the arrow that was launched generates a shock wave, scattering the enemy soldiers and sending them dancing up into the air. It can hurl enemy generals horizontally for around 50m!

Since the shock wave even affects other warlords, here we'll consider the case of an enemy flying 50m after taking an arrow. The distance that an object travels horizontally is determined by how far they travel before they make contact with the ground. To fly a great distance, their horizontal velocity must be substantial. If an enemy general is 170cm tall, it takes 0.42 seconds from the moment they're hit by the arrow and incapacitated until their body's centre of gravity touches the ground. To fly 50m in that space of time means a speed of 420km/h!

Of course, at this speed the enemy would probably hit their head on the ground or a wall. With this on top of the damage they took from the arrow, surely they won't be long for this world. Yet the enemy generals immediately lunge back to their feet. The BASARA world is a frightening one. However, Tsuruhime's arrows are more terrifying still. An ordinary arrow weighs approximately 25g. Supposing that the size of the arrow also doubles in size to match the bow; in becoming twice as large vertically and horizontally, the arrow will become eight times heavier: 200g.

Meanwhile, the enemy weighs around 100kg, factoring in their armour. Tsuruhime's arrows can send something weighing 500 times more than them flying at a speed of 430km/h. For this to be possible, they have to be travelling 500 times faster than person they hit. That's a speed of 216,000km/h, or Mach 177! It goes without saying that to fire this kind of arrow requires superhuman strength. To draw the bow back one metre, the force exerted is 73,500t. Tsuruhime can lift a luxury cruise ship with the strength of her back muscles, if she wants to. She's a girl with incredibly strong arms, invincible in the Warring States. There's no need to be concerned for her safety.

Supernatural powers, as well

Tsuruhime's archery has mysterious effects. With the secret technique 'Fukashigiya', she traps the enemy inside a giant soap bubble floating in midair. The only way that this can be be possible is if a gas which is lighter than air is inside the soap bubble. If the enemy weighs 100kg and the inside is filled with helium, it would need to have a diameter of 5.7m.

But the bubble's power to float wouldn't extend to the enemy's body. The film at the bottom of the soap bubble would be supporting the enemy's body weight. Normally, when soap film touches an object which isn't coated in liquid soap it bursts and disperses. Supporting 100kg and maintaining its shape; it's the soap film of miracles.

In addition, there's her Basara technique. Tsuruhime freezes the ground then slides over it as though she's figure skating, all the while using her weapon to defeat enemies to her heart's content. Because the ice forms a path in front of Tsuruhime, she probably slides along while using a strange power to create the ice. The ice's width is around 50cm. It has to be 3cm thick so that it doesn't break when it's stepped on.

Figure skater Asada Mao's top speed is said to be 4m/s. For the path of ice to spread out enough for Tsuruhime to go at the same speed, in just one second 55kg of ice would have to be created. An industrial ice machine makes 1kg of ice in an hour. Tsuruhime's ice-making capacity is 200,000 times greater than that!

Rapid fire abilities, the speed of the arrows, the power when drawing the bow, the strength of the soap film, and ice-making capabilities. Every aspect is far beyond the reach of a grown man and modern science. Please relax, and revel in youth on the battlefield.

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