is a 1993 Japanese film directed by

Nobuhiko Obayashi was a Japanese film director, director, screenwriter and film editing, editor of films and television advertisements. He began his filmmaking career as a pioneer of Japanese experimental films before transitioning to directing more mainstream m ...

Cast

Tsutomu Yamazaki is a Japanese actor. He won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor in 1984 for '' The Funeral'' and '' Farewell to the Ark''. Yamazaki is known for his roles as Goro in '' Tampopo'' (1985) and Nenbutsu no Tetsu on the television jidaigeki '' Hiss ...

as Sutonahiko Suminoe (sometimes referred to as 'old man' by Satoru), a miniature samurai who is discovered by a little boy in a river. *Ryō Yoshida as Satoru, a young boy. *

Ayumi Ito is a Japanese actress from Tokyo, Japan. Career Ito played a supporting role in '' Tokyo!''. She also appeared in Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 2012 television drama ''Penance'', and sang in the band Mean Machine. Filmography Film * '' Samurai Kids'' (19 ...

as Chizuko, Satoru's sister. *

Jun Fubuki is a Japanese actress. Career Jun Fubuki received a Japanese Academy Award Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role in '' Muno no Hito'', and won at the Hochi Film Awards. This role also won Fubuki the "Best Actress" award at the Yokoha ...

as Yuuko, Satoru's mother. *

Kiyotaka Nanbara (born 13 February 1965, in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture) is a Japanese television host and comedian. He is known as the boke of the manzai duo Utchan Nanchan with Teruyoshi Uchimura. Career In 1985, while attending the Yokohama Broadcasting ...

* Onoe Ushinosuke VI *Tōru Yuri *

Tomoyo Harada is a Japanese actress, singer, and lyricist, and was a popular idol in the 1980s. Career In 1982, Harada participated in a movie audition with the reason of wanting to meet Hiroyuki Sanada, and received a special award. In July of the same ...

as Yuki, a librarian who introduces Satoru to the legends of miniature samurai. *

Ittoku Kishibe , born , is a Japanese actor and musician. Career He originally entered show business as the bassist for the Japanese rock bands, The Tigers and Pyg, but later switched to acting. The veteran of over 115 films, he won the Best Actor Japanese ...

as Fumihiro, Satoru's father. *

Ishirō Honda was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 46 feature films in a career spanning five decades. He is acknowledged as the most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki and one of the founders of modern disaster film, wit ...

as Grandfather—Obayashi included Honda's portrait as a posthumous cameo, honouring him as a filmmaker, and paying respects to him as a friend.

Release

''Samurai Kids'' was distributed theatrically in Japan by Toho on 17 July 1993. In the Philippines, the film was released as ''My Little Bodyguard'' on 24 August 1995.

Reception

''Samurai Kids'' won an Excellence-Silver Award for Japanese Movies in the 11th Golden Gloss Award. The film won two awards at the

Japanese Academy Awards The , often called the Japan Academy Prize, the Japan Academy Awards, and the Japanese Academy Awards, is a series of awards given annually since 1978 by the Japan Academy Film Prize Association (日本アカデミー賞協会, ''Nippon Akademii- ...

: Best Music Score for

Joe Hisaishi , known professionally as , is a Japanese composer, musical director, conductor and pianist, known for over 100 film scores and solo albums dating back to 1981. Hisaishi's music has been known to explore and incorporate different genres, inclu ...

and the Popularity Awards for the Most Popular Film.

References

Sources

External links

* 1993 films Toho films Films directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi 1990s Japanese films {{1990s-Japan-film-stub