is a 2011
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
ese
television
Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
parody
A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...
comedy
Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium.
Origins
Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
about Yoshihiko, an inept hero who sets out to find the cure to a plague, but ends up fighting a larger evil. Yoshihiko is guided by a comedic Buddha, and accompanied by an incompetent wizard, a woman who wants to kill Yoshihiko because she thinks he killed her father, and a warrior who will kill Yoshihiko as soon as the warrior finishes telling Yoshihiko his stories. ''Yūsha Yoshihiko'' is heavily influenced by the RPG game series ''
Dragon Quest
previously published as ''Dragon Warrior'' in North America until 2005, is a series of role-playing video games created by Japanese game designer Yuji Horii (Armor Project), character designer Akira Toriyama (Bird Studio), and composer Koi ...
'', with Yoshihiko's outfit and most of the monsters being directly lifted from the series. It also contains references to other fantasy series and comedies, such as ''
Monty Python
Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...
''.
The second season was broadcast in 2012. The third season was broadcast in 2016.
Plot
Yūsha Yoshihiko is a young, adventurous child who inevitably becomes The Hero Yoshihiko after the Hero Teruhiko, who went searching for a miracle herb to cure a plague which struck the village, never returned. He pulls a sacred sword from a stone within his village, which determines him as the next Hero. Due to these events, Yoshihiko must embark on a journey to the Evil King's castle to find a cure for the plague that has stricken his village. Along the way, he finds many new companions and allies, who help Yoshihiko reach his ultimate goal.
Characters
Yoshihiko
A young man of Kaboi Village who pulls the legendary Beckoning Sword from a boulder and becomes the Hero destined to defeat the Demon Lord. Dim-witted and overly trusting, Yoshihiko often aids enemies to the detriment of the party. He frequently abandons the quest to pursue unheroic goals, often to lust after recently-met women. Known to enter the homes of strangers and smash their pots, not understanding the angry reactions of the inhabitants. Yoshihiko is easily excited by magic — whenever he meets a magic-user, he insists on being the target of any spells they know.
Danjo
Middle-aged bandit who follows Yoshihiko in hopes of finishing a lengthy story he began telling, after which Danjo will kill him. Tall, strong and clad in animal hides, Danjo is a capable warrior who takes great pride in his sideburns. He serves as the pragmatic mentor of the group, although he sometimes gives into the vices of drinking and women.
Murasaki
A sour-tempered village girl who believes Yoshihiko murdered her father and wishes to kill him in revenge. Yoshihiko convinces her to put off killing him until they discover the truth of her father's murder (a subplot that is never again addressed). Murasaki develops a crush for Yoshihiko, although her feelings are not reciprocated — Yoshihiko is unimpressed by her unfeminine figure. Murasaki derides Merebu's magical abilities and the two often take jabs at each other, Merebu mocking her for her lack of curves, Murasaki making fun of the mole on his lip. Murasaki becomes a mage during visits to Dharma Shrine and learns a small number of useful spells. She carries an inanimate pet bird on her shoulder that is rarely mentioned but allegedly alive.
Merebu
The guru of a village, exposed as a fraudster by Yoshiko and company. Merebu joins the party to see the outside world. He learns at least one new magic spell per episode, putting on airs as he describes it to the party, but they are all underpowered cantrips that at best mildly inconvenience the enemy. Between this and his lack of physical prowess, most view Merebu as useless — the church only charges a few gold, or none at all, to revive him, whereas the revival prices for Danjo and Murasaki climb into the tens of thousands. However, Merebu is the most genre savvy character, demonstrating an understanding of modern pop culture, video game mechanics and the fact they are filming a television show. He does his best to keep the others from referencing copyrighted material, and often calls out the low-budget elements of the show.
Hotoke
An exalted Buddhist deity who, like God in
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' is a 1975 British comedy film based on the Arthurian legend, written and performed by the Monty Python comedy group (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin) and ...
, appears in the clouds and gives the party tasks to carry out, although Yoshihiko is unable to see him without the aid of special glasses. Hotoke acts in a very un-Buddha-like manner, telling jokes, forgetting his lines and becoming tongue-tied, providing false or incomplete information, getting distracted by mundane trivialities, and cheats on his wife. Like Merebu, he often breaks the
fourth wall
The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...
by referring to the quest as a television show. Every once in a while, Hotoke is forced to restore Yoshihiko's motivation with a resolve-bolstering Buddha Beam.
Hisa
Yoshihiko's sister. A running gag, she emerges from behind a tree in the last few minutes of each episode to express concern for her brother. Sometimes attempts to sabotage the party's progress to keep Yoshihiko from getting hurt.
Episodes
Season 1: ''The Demon King's Castle'' (2011)
Season 2: ''The Key of the Evil Spirit'' (2012)
Season 3: ''The Seven Chosen Ones'' (2016)
Cast
*
Takayuki Yamada
is a Japanese actor, singer, and producer. He is best known for his role as Sakutaro Matsumoto in TV drama ''Socrates in Love'' and as Densha Otoko in the Densha Otoko (film), 2005 film of the same name. Yamada gained international popularity th ...
– Yoshihiko (Hero)
*
Azusa Okamoto – Hisa (Hero's Sister)
*
Shin Takuma – Danjo (Warrior)
*
Haruka Kinami
is a Japanese actress who is affiliated with Horipro.
Biography
In 2001, Kinami was chosen to be the Japanese High School Baseball Championship
The of Japan, commonly known as , is an annual nationwide high school baseball tournament. I ...
– Murasaki (Fighter)
*
Tsuyoshi Muro
is a Japanese actor who appears on stage and screen. He debuted as an actor in 1999 and has appeared in the " Bayside Shakedown" series, NHK's '' Gochisosan'', and '' Yūsha Yoshihiko''.
Filmography Film
* '' Hentai Kamen'' (2013)
* '' Jossy's' ...
– Merebu (Wizard)
*
Jirô Satô – Hotoke (Buddha)
*
Kitarô – Teruhiko
*
Kôtarô Shiga – Ozaru
*
Ryôji Isoyama – Caveman
*
Kôji Nomura – Caveman
*
Narushi Ikeda – Ninja
*
Naomi Shiraishi – Obaba
*
Naomi Watanabe
is a Japanese comedian, actress, and fashion designer. She rose to fame in 2008 for her imitation of Beyoncé, after which she was given the title "the Japanese Beyoncé".
Career
Watanabe does impersonations of popular artists in Japanese cultu ...
– Oshina
*
Tomoya Nakamura
is a Japanese actor.
Career
Nakamura made his debut in the film '' The Innocent Seven'' in 2005.
Personal life
On March 25, 2023, Nakamura married Nippon TV
JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese televisio ...
– Sauda
*
Nobue Iketani – Sauda's Mother
*
Yûichi Fukuda – Mountain God
*
Ken Yasuda – Thief A
*Daisuke Kobayashi – Kojima
*
Nana Rokusha – Kirana Village Woman
*
Meikyô Yamada – Gantesai
*
Kôji Abe – Thief B
*
Eiko Koike
is a Japanese actress.
Biography
Koike starred in Kunitoshi Manda's film '' The Kiss''. She appeared in Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 2012 television drama ''Penance,'' and co-starred in Junji Sakamoto's ''A Chorus of Angels'' with Sayuri Yoshinaga. She ...
– Angel
*
Takafumi Ozeki
Takafumi (written: 貴文, 貴史, 孝史, 崇文, 岳文, 敬史, 隆文, 隆史 or 隆普美) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, Japanese footballer
*, Japanese footballer and manager
*, Japanese entrepr ...
– Kappa
*
Ikki Sawamura
is a Japanese model, film and television actor, and television presenter signed to Ken-On. His second son, Kōta Nomura is also an actor.
Early life and career
Ikki Sawamura was born in Kagoshima in 1967. After graduating from the local high ...
– Thief
*
Shin'ya Kaneko – Nakamo
*
Hidekazu Nagae
Hidekazu (written: 秀和, 英和, 秀一 or 英一) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, Japanese rower
*, Japanese manga artist
*, Japanese voice actor
*, Japanese comedian
*, Japanese composer and arrange ...
– Igaruya
*
Hajime Taniguchi – Shimuda
*
Arata Furuta
is a Japanese theatre and film character actor.
Biography
Furata has a broad range that goes from playing serious salary men, to '' bushi'' in period drama roles, and even women.
He works with the theatrical troupe called Otona Keikaku and of ...
– Thief E
*
Haruna Uechi – Thief E's Wife
*
Takuma Oto'o
Takuma (written: 拓磨, 拓真, 拓馬, 琢磨, 匠馬, 卓磨, 卓真 or 卓馬) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, Japanese footballer
*, Japanese baseball player
*, Japanese motorcycle racer
*, Japanes ...
– Thief F
*
Shizuka Nakamura
中村静香 (2009年8月29日) (インタビュー). リアルライブ is a Japanese gravure idol and actress who is represented by the talent agency Oscar Promotion
is a Japanese talent agency headquartered in Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo. It was ...
– Lienne
*
Junpei Takiguchi
, better known by his stage name , was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Chiba Prefecture.
Besides his many narration and dubbing roles, he was also known for his roles in '' Time Bokan'' (as Perasuke), '' Yatterman'' (as Dokurobei ...
– Evil Sorcerer
*
Takao Toji – Old Man Lienne
*
Tanaka Naoki
is a Japanese comedy duo (Glossary of owarai terms#kombi, kombi) formed in 1992, consisting of and . They are best known for making up the cast of the popular and long-running variety show ''Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!!''.
Members ...
– Sir Morgan
*
Shun Oguri
is a Japanese people, Japanese actor and Voice acting in Japan, voice actor, son of stage director Tetsuya Oguri, and the youngest of 3 siblings, including older brother Ryo, who is also an actor.
He started in small roles as extra in the works ...
– Baquas, the Demon King's gatekeeper (Season 1, ep 10)
Music
The opening to the first series was performed by
mihimaru GT
Mihimaru GT were an urban and pop music group signed to Universal Music Japan and managed by Tearbridge Productions, a subsidiary of Stardust Promotion and Avex.
History
Mihimaru GT was a Japanese duet made up of composer, lyricist and vocali ...
, while the closing credits is by TEE. The audio was composed by anime and video game composer Eishi Segawa. A soundtrack CD was bundled with the first series DVD. A new release containing additional tracks from the other seasons was sold separately in 2017.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yusha Yoshihiko
2011 Japanese television series debuts
2012 in Japanese television
2016 in Japanese television
Television shows about magic
Japanese comedy-drama television series
Television shows about video games
Japanese adventure television series
Television shows written by Yûichi Fukuda