Ask the Samurai Troopers!

🌸 Welcome to Ask Samurai Troopers, an ask blog for the Troopers and their friends frenemies! 🌸

[samurai-skittle-squad]

Been having fun with making little sprites in Aseprite! (Yes I'm doing all the Masho, I included Shuten this time to keep them all the same size since social media loves to mess with gifs like these.)

[shions-ponytail]

Thank you to @asksamuraitroopers for providing me with the full audio for the mini dramas that were included in Vol 1 of the Blu-ray set. I really appreciate your effort to contact and send them to me. I've not translated all of them yet (only 3 episodes were included in Vol 1), but ya'll can enjoy Episode 1 first. Btw, I previously tagged the audio drama samples with #audio drama. For the full tracks however, I will use the tag #full audio drama. So FYI if you need an easier way to search for them on this blog. Anyway, translation is below:

【Mini Drama Episode #1】 “After the Battle, it’s Time for a Bath-ttle!” Edit/TV Anime “Yoroi Shin Den Samurai Troopers”

Gai, who was raised to adhere to bathhouse etiquette by a certain strict individual from youjakai, now shows his teammates the right way to conduct themselves.

Yamato: Whewww, I've been rejuvenated—*flinches*

Musashi: What's wrong?

Yamato: Uhh.... I feel my shoulders tingling a little.

Musashi: You may be right; looks like there's a wound on your shoulder.

Yamato: Urk, seriously?

Shion: I guess heroes are the kind to get hurt without even realizing it.

Musashi: Hmm? It looks more like a scratch though...

Yamato: Well, my back felt kinda itchy yesterday, so, y'know...

Shion: You mean you did that to yourself?

Gai: Yamato, you should check for any wounds before getting into the bath. Kaito, did you rinse your body off first? Shion, tie your hair up so it doesn’t get in the bathwater. Musashi, soak up to your shoulders and count to ten.

All: Huh???? 

Kaito: What’s with this all of a sudden?

Shion: Are you some kind of regular here that you’re so strict about manners?

Musashi: Hey, isn’t it kinda weird how you’re fussing over us that much?

Gai: What? I’m just stating the obvious. If you make any mistakes using a public bath, they’ll get really mad at you!

Kaito: It seems there’s someone among the Ten Braves who’s strict about manners at the bathhouse...

Musashi: Hey, hey, the instructions you gave me— that’s like something parents would tell their kids right?

Gai: Alright you assholes, STAND UP!

Yamato: Huh? What for?

Gai: I want to check everyone for any more wounds.

Musashi: For your information, Gai, I'm the same age as you!

Gai: Don't care. Now, GET UP!

Kaito: I'll pass.

Gai: And why's that?

Kaito: Because I don't have any wounds. There's no reason for me to show you my naked body.

Shion: Same here.

Yamato: Haha! *stands up* You guys really have no confidence in your own nakedness, do you?

Kaito & Shion: Huh???

Musashi: Yama-nii doesn't know what it means to feel shame. Please forgive him.

Yamato: I don't give a damn if people see me like this. Here, I'll give you long hard look! How's this? Pretty swole aren't I?

Gai: Huh? What do you mean by "swole"?

Kaito: He really is just all brawn, isn't he?

Yamato: Eh? Does the scrawny lil' sprout have something to say?

Kaito: DON'T YOU EVER COMPARE ME TO THAT BLAND-TASTING VEGETABLE!!!

Musashi: ???? You don't like bean sprouts?

Shion: Alright, look. Me? I'm a researcher, so I look my best when I dress smart. Geniuses don't need all that extra muscle is what I'm trying to say.

Musashi: And here comes this guy with his excuses....

Gai: Sprouts? OH, YOU MEAN THOSE THIN WHITE THINGS?

Yamato: You're just realizing that now?

Gai: Well yeah, that's exactly what Musashi is.

Musashi: HUUUHHHH????!!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Musashi: *steps on weighing scale* Ugh, I haven't gained any weight at all. I guess I am the scrawniest sprout of all the lil' sprouts. Yep, yep, guess I knew that already. Go ahead and laugh, guys.

Gai: Hm? What's got you so down?

Shion: Everyone has their own opinion of the ideal body type, after all....

Gai: Humans really are interesting, aren't they?

Kaito: Here. *hands Gai milk bottle*

Gai: ?

Kaito: This is what you’re supposed to do after taking a bath.

Gai: Whoaahhh!

Yamato: Right, let’s do it then! Put your hand on your hip like this, pop the cap off, and chug it all down in one shot!

Gai, Kaito, & Yamato: *proceed to drink the cold milk*

Gai: A drink after the baths— it can’t get any better than this!

Musashi: Ohhh, nice! I want to have a drink too!

Shion: Count me in as well, thank you very much~

Gai: Hey, you guys better make sure to dry your hair properly!

All: Aye!!

[asksamuraitroopers]

Hello! I'm running an interest survey for an online shop of YST/RW fan-made goods. I'd greatly appreciate if you have a few minutes to respond. Thank you! https://forms.gle/vQ9cs1K1EhQrPQZq5

[asksamuraitroopers]

Somehow I managed to doodle some things.

[samuraitroopersfanzine]

More Ken Mizuki Merch Part 2

Ok. So here's the follow-up to the previous post. The pop up shop closed on April 12. But those folks who were lucky enough to go and purchase items would be entered into a lottery for a chance to win various prizes.

The items are ranked S, A, B, and "End". The S-tier prize, awarded to 2 people, is a copy of an illustration featuring Seiji and Touma and is signed by both Kaim Tachibana and Ken Mizuki. The A-tier prize, awarded to 5 people, is a copy of the art book signed by both artists. The B-tier prize, awarded to 100 people, is a can badge/button featuring an illustration of the 5 troopers, drawn in chibi style, napping around Byakuen. Final prize is a random drawing of 6 different stickers, 5 of the stickers feature one of each trooper, while the last sticker uses the same illustration as the can badge. source

Reminder: the last day to order any items that appeared in the pop up shop is May 6, 2026. Items will ship late June.

The next bit of Ken Mizuki-related merch announced was a 5 CD set rereleasing the background music from the original series. It collects Gun Rou Hen, Sei Ran Hen, I Jin Hen, Kikoutei Densetsu OVA Soundtrack, and Hana (the Message OVA soundtrack).

It was released on March 25, 2026. For those who preordered, there were bonus items included based on which store the set was purchased from. source

A-on STORE: Clear jacket

Amazon.co.jp: Mega Jacket

Seven Net Shopping: Acrylic Carabiner Type

Rakuten Books: Acrylic Keychain

The set is still available at various stores online.

All righty, I think that gets me caught up to all the goods that have been announced so far.

If you like all the news and updates I’ve been posting and would like to show some support, you can via Ko-Fi! <3

[rw-yst-calendar]

RW/YST Calendar Sign Up: 2026 Series

This is the sign up for the 2026 Series version of the 2027 calendar - for the 1988 series, go here! Sign ups will be open until May 31; y

Sign Ups for the 2027 RW/YST Calendar: 2026 Series Edition are here!

You have until May 31 to sign up; once sign ups end you will receive an email within a week confirming your assignment, and will then have until August 31 to create your art for the calendar!

To sign up for the 1988 Series Edition, go here! You are free to sign up for both!

We look forward to seeing you!

[hjbender]

Episode 15: The Ancient's Battle

This is one of the maybe 6 or 7 episodes my friend had recorded on VHS from 1995, so each word and inflection and sound effect and all the music is hard-written into my DNA now.

And once again they had the pros in the studio that day and everyone is fully armed and looking fine as hell.

I mean just look at Ryo's beautiful profile up there. The curve of his nostrils. His button nose. The definition of his lips, his chin, his teeth. His face connects to his neck in a gentle and realistic curve, not a 90-degree angle. There's the slight bump of his Adam's apple (that he's probably still developing because his voice only broke a year ago and Matt Hill did a great job providing that scratchy, pubescent tone).

He's perfect—aesthetically and anatomically. The corner of his mouth lines up with the center of his pupils. The shadows on his cheeks and under his nose give his face flesh, 3-dimensional contours, and weight. He's gorgeous.

[I originally had a paragraph here where I tore into the new series for not following these basic artistic principles, but even I don't want that negativity here.]

I really wish the English dub had been less concerned about appealing to hyperactive Power Rangers kids and tried to be truer to the original Japanese dialogue, which repeatedly underscores the importance of faith, righteousness, humility, and friendship. For those of us lucky enough (or unlucky, depending upon how you view it) to have these characters' English vocal talents permanently etched into our brains, we can simply read the subtitles in their voices. Free text-to-speech!

THIS. The episode where Anubis officially quits Dynasty Inc. and denounces his evil boss, and then his coworkers show up and beat his ass and drag him back to the Amazon fulfillment center lol

The whole scene with Anubis getting pummeled by Dais and Sekhmet and then stabbed by Cale's 6-inch claws, only for the Ronins to jump in and try to save his unconscious ass: Delicious. Five Star Gourmet Whump. And speaking of whump:

Watching this as an established adult really made me go, "Oh. Oh. So that's why I'm..." Formative. Nothing hotter than a bad guy defecting and getting kidnapped by his former compatriots. And somehow still having the grace to try to save them even as they were mauling him.

This was definitely the episode that made little 12-year-old Bender see the Warlords as complex human beings instead of typical USA cartoon villains. I was so intrigued I began to write... and I never stopped.

A round of applause for these handsome devils 👏

Although when I first watched the scene below with my friend, I yelped, "Oh my god his eyes are purple!" And then he opened his eyes.

Sorry, Sekhmet. Didn't mean to disrespect your eyeshadow game, brah.

[asksamuraitroopers]

[kayurastudio]

BOS Challenge day 26.  Like Ryo, I took Shu from an old Ask panel and cleaned up with some shading and highlights.

[kayurastudio]

BOS Challenge day 25.  I cleaned up the drawing of Ryo from one of my old Ask panels and added some shading and highlighting.

[kayurastudio]

More entries for the BOS 2019 challenge!  Including art trades for @k-shinju88, @kaleidraws and Fullmetal-Heroine.

[k-shinju88]

~Boys of Summer 2019 – Week 4~

Got through another week of the challenge! Yaaaaay~ :D

Some OCs make special appearances in a few of the pictures. (My character TK is in the first drawing, while @kayurastudio‘s OC Kotori shows up in the drawing with Mia.)

The Rowen/Kento/Sage drawing is based on this “draw the squad” template. XP

——

Day 1 drawing // Week 2 drawings // Week 3 drawings

[k-shinju88]

~Boys of Summer 2019 – Week 3~

Another week done, another new set of YST/RW art! We’re also already halfway through June. How time flies~ o3o

——

Day 1 drawing // Week 2 drawings

[kayurastudio]

BOS Day 13: Warlords vs Badamon.  I wish they’d had a bigger part in the final battle.

[kayurastudio]

BOS Day 11.  Ryo found Yukimura!  It goes about as well as you’d expect.  (For those that haven’t played the game, Yukimura isn’t yelling at Ryo’s armor.  He has an attack named “Rekka”.  xD)

[kayurastudio]

Day 10 entry for BOS 2019 (now I’m getting 2 days ahead of time).  Also because June 9th is Seiji’s birthday.  It’s nice to spend time with your family.  :<

[kayurastudio]

Day 9 entry for BOS 2019.