A Look at the Breast Expansion Anime “Magic Breast Secret Sword Scroll” 魔乳秘剣帖 Manyū Hiken-chō

Good morning everyone,

Today’s review will examine a breast-expansion themed anime. Specifically, let’s dive into “Magic Breast Secret Sword Scroll” or in Japanese: 魔乳秘剣帖 “Manyū Hiken-chō.” This began as a manga which ran from March 2007 until January 2012. Manyū Hiken-chō was drawn and written by Hideki Yamada (a.k.a. Konchiki). Yamada also created “Oritatabu,” about two girls who bond over their shared love of bicycling, and “Toaru Joshidaisei no Nichijou ni Miru,” about the struggles of a broke college student.

The anime Manyū Hiken-chō aired on TV from July to September 2011, for a total of one season consisting of 12 episodes. A second season was reportedly considered, but has not materialized as of early 2021. (NOTE: Based on Yamada’s Twitter feed, it appears that Oritatabu is his priority nowadays and it seems unlikely that Manyū Hiken-chō will be continued.)

The protagonists are Chifusa and her companion Kaede. (NOTE: The name Chifusa,ちふさ, is only one “ten ten” a.k.a. “dakuten,” they look like quotation marks, away from Chibusa,ちぶさ or 乳房 in kanji, which means “breast, udder, or nipple.”) Chifusa is a female ninja and heir to an important family during the Edo period of Japan in this alternate universe. Crucial to this story is the concept that a woman’s breast size determines her status in society. The bigger the breasts, the more important the lady.

Chifusa steals an important artifact, the Manyū Scroll of Secrets, from the Manyū Clan, her own family, during the initial episode. The scroll teaches methods to enlarge a woman’s chest. (NOTE: It was tucked into her cleavage in the image at the top of this page.) Chifusa wants to end the domination of flat-chested woman by uncaring buxom overloads. Thus, in a sense, she may be considered a “mammary Robin Hood” or a “buxom democratic socialist,” a.k.a. “Bernie Sanders, but with boobs.” 😉 (She’s also easier on the eyes than the elderly Senator from Vermont, but I digress…)

Chifusa struggles throughout this season to control the abilities she learned from the scroll. Initially, Chifusa is only able to take from other women and add their attributes to herself. Therefore, while she begins the series with an average bust, her chest grows significantly as she defeats more and more enemies. Eventually, in episode 12 she learns how to give size to others.

There was a veritable cornucopia of big breast fan service throughout. That noted, it’s important to clarify what I mean by fan service. I consider fan service to consist of ribald content that nonetheless does not become overly explicit. Using my definition, fan service would consist of showing a curvy actress in a bikini during a special episode, when she typically wears concealing uniforms. (As was done with Catherine Bell in Season 3 Episode 15 of the JAG TV series.) However, an actress actually having sex would be more than just fan service. Bottom line, this is risque, but not what I would consider hentai or erotic anime エロアニメ. (NOTE: Although, the dividing line can be ambiguous. One could assert that risque anime does not portray sex, while erotic anime does. However, if a woman orgasms because her nipples were stimulated, is that sex? Alternatively, is sex only when a penis penetrates a vagina or anus, or when a person performs cunnilingus or fellatio upon another?)

This series shows many exposed female breasts of various shapes and sizes. However, due to Japanese censorship practices and the fact that this was originally aired on TV, this series does not portray genitals or sexual intercourse. (NOTE: The TV version was significantly censored compared to the Director’s Cut released afterward.) Shapely female breasts are caressed by men and women, but there was no vaginal penetration. Furthermore, the nurturing aspects of mammary glands were shown via breast feeding. In one episode, Chifusa tends to a group of wild toddlers using her enhanced chest. At the culmination of the series, Chifusa had to harness a maternal spirit to fully realize her potential. (NOTE: One could interpret this series as having an overarching theme that boobs should “nurture” instead of “suppress.”)

As one might expect given the subject matter, much of this series had a playful tone as can be seen below:

However, it began darkly with Kaede’s rape at the hands of Kagefusa and Kaede’s involuntary breast reduction. Furthermore, the tone drastically shifted again in Episode 11 when Chifusa was told that her mother committed suicide to prevent misuse of the Breast Flow technique. While the violent act was not directly shown, a disturbing pool of blood was depicted. (NOTE: I have not read the original manga, but reportedly it’s even darker than the anime.)

Chifusa made some progress toward mastering her abilities, but the goal of overthrowing society’s hierarchy was not achieved. Undoubtedly, she would have made further progress in later seasons. Additionally, I would have loved to have seen our heroines establish a physical relationship. They could start by kissing, engage in mutual fondling, try scissoring, etc. Something beyond Kaede suckling and groping Chifusa. Alas, that was not to be. Nonetheless, this was a fun show devoted to big breasts.Therefore, I recommend Magic Breast Secret Sword Scroll to those fans of breast expansion and large bosoms.

(SIDE NOTE: Eight shorts, Original Video Animations (OVA), were also produced and included on Blu-Ray and DVD, but not on the discs that I bought 😥 The OVAs included scenes such as Chifusa’s torso being covered in plaster, ergo a thick, gooey white substance… no subtext intended I’m sure 😉 )

Be warned though, purchasing Blu-Ray or DVD copies can be expensive. English versions may cost several hundred dollars as of late February 2021, according to my recent searches on Amazon and eBay.

I bought a used rental copy from Amazon Japan for ￥ 3,048, or about $28.90 in late December 2020. Although, as of this writing, it shot back up to ￥13,980, or about $132.57. It is unlikely that the discs will be reprinted and thus prices presumably will not lower significantly. However, this series is available to rent online via Amazon Japan and other streaming services may also carry it. (NOTE: It goes without saying that less scrupulous methods to watch the series can be found.)

Perhaps someday another season, as an erotic anime, may see the light 🙂 One can only hope!

That’s it for today folks. Thursday’s review will cover a live-action shrunken man video from a new creator. Until then, “Oppai!” Err, I mean, keep growing!

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