''Ronin Warriors'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

series created by

Hajime Yatate is a pseudonym for the collective contributions of the Bandai Namco Filmworks#Sunrise, Sunrise（Bandai Namco Filmworks） animation staff. Name "Hajime Yatate" is considered to be named after a quote of Matsuo Bashō's ''Oku no Hosomichi'': ...

and animated by

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon. Terminology Although the S ...

. The television series, co-produced by Nagoya TV, aired across Japan on the

All-Nippon News Network All-Nippon News Network (ANN; ) is a Japanese commercial television network run by TV Asahi Corporation (TV Asahi) in Tokyo, which is controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Company. The network's responsibility includes the syndication of nationa ...

from April 30, 1988, to March 4, 1989, for a total of 39 episodes. A

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

adaptation was serialized on

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

’s ''

Comic BomBom was a monthly Japanese children's manga magazine published by Kodansha and aimed at elementary school boys. It was first published on October 15, 1981, and ceased publication in 2007. A web version of the magazine has been published on Pixiv Com ...

'' from November 17, 1988, to April 5, 1990, and the chapters collected into 2 ''

tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...

'' volumes. A sequel to the original series is set to premiere in January 2026.

Plot

Talpa, ruler of the Dynasty, is bent on conquering the Earth. Standing against Talpa and his four Dark Warlords are the five Ronin Warriors, each in possession of mystical armor and weapons. They are assisted by Mia Koji, a young student-researcher, Ully, a child, and a mysterious warrior-mystic known only as the

Ancient One The Ancient One is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, ...

Media

Anime

''Ronin Warriors'' was originally licensed in the United States by

Graz Entertainment Graz Entertainment () is an American licensing and distribution company, run by Jim and Stephanie Graziano, which obtains and provides programming and licensing rights for children's television animation. They currently control ''Z Blade'', ''The A ...

and distributed by Cinar (now

WildBrain WildBrain Ltd. is a Canadian media, animation studio, production company, production, and brand licensing company, mostly associated as an entertainment company. The company is known for owning the largest independent library of Children's tel ...

), and it was recorded by the

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-based

Ocean Productions Ocean Productions, Inc., is a Canadian media production and voice acting company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that is part of the Ocean Group of businesses. Ocean Group is involved in intellectual property acquisition and development, ...

cast. ''Ronin Warriors'' first aired on American television during the summer of 1995 and subsequently appeared through syndication, as well as the

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(1995), Sci-Fi Channel (1996) and later on

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(1999). The series was released on DVD in 2002, including the original Japanese version with English subtitles on the reverse side of the disc. On September 4, 2014, North American anime licensor

Discotek Media Discotek Media is an American entertainment company based in Altamonte Springs, Florida, focused on distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. History Formed in 2005, Discotek primarily focuses on licensing retr ...

announced their license of the original Japanese anime (''Yoroiden Samurai Troopers''), and planned to release the series on DVD in 2015. Discotek has said that on their

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page that they have no plans to release ''Ronin Warriors'' until they clear issues with the dub. Discotek has also licensed the OVAs and includes both Japanese and English audio as well as English subtitles. By 2021, the issues were resolved and the series' English dub had a

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

release on December 28, 2021.

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later added the anime series for its streaming. The English dub was legally available on streaming services such

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

, RetroCrush, and

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. The opening and ending sequences and the eyecatches were replaced with new ones, and the Japanese title cards were removed; there were no substantial cuts to the bodies of the episodes and the episodes retained most of the original music. A line of action figures based on the anime was released by

Playmates Toys Playmates Toys Limited is a Hong Kong toy company. The company was founded in Hong Kong in 1966 by Sam Chan Tai-ho as Playmates Industrial, manufacturing dolls for other companies. In 1975, Playmates began marketing its own line of preschool to ...

in 1999, with a limited rerelease by Re:Play in 2001. Three OVA sequels were produced: ''Gaiden'' (''Side Story''), ''The Legend of the Inferno Armor'', and ''Message''. There are numerous novels and audio dramas based on the anime. While all the sequels have been released on DVD, the manga and audio dramas have not been made available in English. A sequel of the original series, titled , was announced on June 11, 2025. It will be produced by Sunrise and directed by Yōichi Fujita, with Shōgo Mutō handling series composition and episode scripts, character designs by Yuhei Murota, villain designs by Tsukasa Kotoboki, Yoroi Gear design by Takuya Suzuki with original Yoroi Gear design concepts by Hideo Okamoto and Shūji Katayama composing the music. It is set to premiere in January 2026.

Music

*''Yoroiden Samurai Troopers Debut Album: Kimi o Nemurasenai'' ( King Records, December 21, 1988, 4 weeks on Oricon chart). (4 weeks on Oricon chart, ranked as high as 44). *''Yoroiden Samurai Troopers: Best Friends'' (King Records, June 5, 1989). (4 weeks on Oricon chart, ranked as high as 12). *"Stardust Eyes", the opening theme for season one's episodes 1-20, was composed by Yasuhiko Shigemura. Its ending theme, "Faraway", was composed by Midori Karashima. Both were sung by Mariko Uranishi. *"Samurai Heart", the opening theme from season two's episodes 21–39, and "Be Free", its ending theme, were composed by Yasuhiko Shigemura. Both were sung by Hiroko Moriguchi. *The first OAV ''Gaiden'' features "Stardust Eyes" and "Faraway" as its first episode's opening and closing themes, and "Samurai Heart" and "Be Free" as its second's. *The second OAV ''Legend of the Inferno Armor'' features "Stardust Eyes" as its opening theme and "Samurai Heart" as its closing theme for its four episodes. *The third OAV ''Message'' has no opening theme but its ending theme, "Tsukamaeteite", was composed by Ami Keizou. Episode 5 also features an insert song, "Hoshi no Lullaby", composed by Ritsuko Okazaki. Both were sung by Kaori Honma (née Futenma).

Plot

Media

Anime

Music

Video game

References

External links

See also