I think the latest Yoroi Shinden Samurai Troopers episode is honestly very validating, especially for Yoroiden Samurai Troopers fanfic writers.
I don't think literally any of us, in all those decades, came up with something as remotely wild as "Jun sells Byakuen to a zoo for less than $200 USD".
The lesson here is, unless you're Jun, live your dreams.
DEAR GOD, WHAT THE FUCK DID THEY DO TO JUN IN THE TIME SKIP FROM SAMURAI TROOPERS TO THE SEQUEL!? LIKE, WAS IT REALLY REQUIRED TO MAKE HIM A WEEB AND A NEET!?!?!?!?
Thoughts on 鎧真伝サムライトルーパー | Yoroi Shinden Samurai Troopers, Episode 6: Restart (it was quite good :D):
Starting with a clip show is so ominous alkjdlaj But it's nice to see the first series XD And Ryo had a relationship with both Shion and Ryusei :3 He looks so peppy, helping them train.
And yes, Ryo now properly has a character card and a page on the official website! And we get to see the Wildfire armor properly :D It looks so pretty! A bit like how it appeared in the Langrisser crossover event in 2021, though I still like that art a bit better.
Just look at him. Ah. My first animated crush. This frame was really cute:
Bebe.
And Nasti with long hair! So she had it for a while and cut it around/after the first expedition. I'm curious what roles, if any, the other Troopers had in training the next generation. Or did they leave like Shion (and seemingly Jun) did, but come back when needed?
THE BOYSSSS
Sebastian in Disney's The Little Mermaid (1989) starts singing: There you see them. Standing there in the dusk... They don't got a lot to say, but there's something about them...
I hope we get to see even more of them. PLEASE DON'T BE DEAD T-T
Still no explanation whether or not Message is still canon, but nothing confirming it isn't. The armors still exist, though. Maybe whatever Shion was able to do to make the new Weapon-Gear allowed the original five to bring back their original armors, too? I wonder why the Message armors weren't good to use, if so. Or maybe they're in storage for some reason?
When they did modern animated Ryo's attack I was screaming.
My heart lol It's so pretty. When he did the spin and sword connection and just ahh. PLEASE DON'T DIE AT THE END OF THIS I DON'T WANT YOU TO DIE T-T
It was suggested by someone else that the three treasures are new, not old, and I don't know if that's been verified somewhere and isn't just an assumption based on the Jewel of Conquest being blue and having a different name and the sword design being different or what. But if it's true, and Shion was able to make the new Weapon-Gear, it could also help explain how the new treasures were made, and why Shion knows about them (when Mirei doesn't). But if they stole the sword from the Youjakai somehow (will get to that later), why does that still work with a new Jewel? And why are the new ones still connected to the old Shiroi Kikotei? It would make sense the Sword of Domination came from the Youjakai because Ryo was there, presumably with his swords, but still how does 2 become 1 outside the Spice Girls song? Is it really Ryo's swords or something else?
Poor Ryo, he really did get possessed. But glad he didn't turn evil. Still, horrible for him. The YST episode where he nearly gets overwhelmed by spirits is one of my favorites and it's so terrible for him. To think he's lived like this for years, poor guy...
I wonder what the other Troopers were doing (given they're standing around and clearly active). I doubt they'd just let Ramaga take him over. Did Ramaga hurt them, using Ryo to do it? Last time, Ryo found strength from the other armors to break through. Why didn't that work this time? Because Ramaga was stronger and/or faster? Because his friends were incapacitated and/or the Masho were, too? Because Ryo was older and not as strong as when he was a teenager?
I also wonder if there's some significance to Saizo being chosen for the "screw with Gai" task when Saizo is the one being shown attacked by Ryo in the past. I don't know what the significance would be exactly, other than maybe Saizo is the strongest and best at stealth or something and it's just a coincidence/this was why Ryo was such a good vessel or something. But it'd be interesting if some aspect of Ryo was pushing forward dangling Saizo as a target for Gai to get rid of, kind of, because Saizo was part of why Ryo was taken in the first place? I don't know. Maybe the animators are just saving animating everyone else for later lol Or Gai is getting Saizo as his nemesis just like Ryo sort of did with Shutendoji (until he switched sides).
Ramaga's line about "I need better than you can offer right now" (and his offer for Gai to improve himself or find a replacement) does seem to show - as others have suggested - that he might target someone other than Gai. I don't know if it'd be Musashi, given the age thing and he's not yet 15, but he is clearly thinking on it. I am really worried about the "toll" Ramaga's talking about with Ryo. I really don't want Ryo to die at the end of this because his body/soul wore out or he's already dead or something. I don't tend to believe villains when they stuff like that, so I don't think his "personality" is actually gone, but I am still worried T-T
Though I'm wondering if that's where Byakuen has gone. Maybe Byakuen managed to steal Ryo's spirit away or something? Byakuen is spiritual in his own way and came back to life once with the help of Byakueno. Maybe something about the magic there enabled him to help Ryo escape. What Ramaga did is still incredibly violating on so many levels (especially if he used Ryo's body to father a son or something), but at least it might help Ryo like... not go insane? As much?
This was a good shot:
That he's "lending" the Sword of Domination sounds like it was something he originally owned. I really wonder if Ryusei and Shion's team found it in the Youjakai and brought it back. And if they stole it from Ryo and/or Ramaga, how. And what they saw or didn't see of the previous Troopers, because only Nasti has talked about any of this and she wasn't there for either trip. The Sword of Domination is not what Ryusei was stabbed with unless it shrunk and changed design completely when he was stabbed.
And yes, it makes perfect sense that the Braves were holding back, just standing around and letting all the drama happen. Y'all were not overpowering them, they're very strong.
I'm glad Nasti is talking about survivor count because when Ramaga did the trick with the castle formation I was thinking, "Wow, so many people just died/are about to die." And that's ignoring infrastructure collapse as food deliveries are delayed or stopped entirely, the energy grid is cut into, people can't get their medications, the elderly and disabled people lose carers and access to their daily lives, children are trapped and unable to defend themselves...
And the bois deal with the reality of their messy situation. Lots of people have died, and Musashi's been around some of them (notably the shopping area he was in where Gai later killed his team, including cutting their hands off). Sometimes you can have a delayed reaction to certain circumstances, I get it, but well... Hmm. It's understandable he wants to run, though. He is just 14. Please let someone older take over, these poor kids are traumatized enough. But alas, this is shounen. Ain't got time for that, especially with the adult mortality rate here.
Kaito having Musashi's back, though, is nice. He hasn't known any of them that long, but he cares about his team.
I honestly love a good sort of... revival via hologram training fight trauma sequence while trying to work out stress lol Horrifying, yes. Right up my alley, also yes. Poor Gai. But hey, we get more of Musashi's old team! And Ryusei, you are quite... fascinating for designing this, likely with Mirei's help! Yes, I get you have to break through Gai's child soldier murder spree mentality, but well... The method.
Ooh, Mirei is in armor and fighting :D That's cool!
Even that first guy who dies is here lol Ryusei (and maybe Mirei), y'all... Traumatize the demon child with... I don't know... Assassin's Creed magic mind-tech powers?
Gai is trying to do better. And he does seemingly care about the world. Like he cares that Ramaga says humans destroy the world, and Gai believes him so... he cares about the world being destroyed and that's why he thinks destroying humans is okay, which evolves into his declaration during the fight with Shion. Interesting stuff.
I was curious when Ryusei (and his clothes) dissolved if the Weapon-Gear went with it, and we have the answer! It did not! Why that was exempt from Ryusei's clothes disappearing, who knows!
I know Yamato probably isn't aware that Kaito stole his Weapon-Gear from one of Musashi's dead teammates, but still, Yamato alkdjlaj To be fair, Shion is not helping by acting a villain lol We all handle grief and loss differently, and Shion's way is to... insult everyone close to him.
Yamato, you're Japanese. Men wear kimono. You dress as as panda for work. Please stop. I don't know if "skirt-wearing jackass" is what he's saying in Japanese, but good grief.
Shion is also older and more experienced, so this isn't fair in a lot of ways lol But at least he suggested 4 on 1 and the other Troopers honorably chose to do 1 on 1 lol
It's nice Musashi moved to avenge his brother :D
I appreciate Gai standing aside and letting Kaito have his turn. And the reinvigorated Troopers not helping Gai at all roflmao
Ryusei why are you ghost-saying this to your husband alkdjalj
So what did Ryusei think of the rest of their team lol Because he keeps personally addressing Shion (not just because the message is meant for Shion, but you know...). Maybe it's to butter him up or just propose, repeatedly, but well... I feel like Shion should get to punch Ryusei for confessing 40 times since they got back together.
I also appreciate that Shion, being older, is also taller than the 14-15-year-olds lol
Listen, I never liked Jun. Child-insert characters always grated on me because rather than making me feel like I could live in the story through this character, they were always just annoying. Chibi Usa had this problem in Sailor Moon. Jun had this problem in YST. I do, however, love modern drawn child!Jun, because I'm a sucker for redraws and he looks cute.
I have mixed feelings about Jun's adult design because, given how this show is handling sexism (and how Jun is being introduced), I am not that optimistic for how it's going to handle fatphobia.
It's really nice to have more body diversity in this story, but I am still hesitant to see how he's going to be dealt with because fat characters in manga and anime are not always treated the best (though there are more at least manga these days featuring fat characters, which is nice! It's not just a geikomi or joke character thing). And yes, I know what sumo is. But we already have weird missing cultural knowledge from the admittedly teenage cast. Shuu had a round face but he was still pretty buff. Really not the same situation. This is giving me Yutaka Itazu vibes from Eden of the East (I've only seen the first season, if things get better for him, good).
I do wonder why Jun just moved into the train to get away from fighting (and why didn't Shion know? Do Shion and Jun know each other?). What special power does he have that Nasti thinks is so important? But hey, for folks who love him, he's now here!
Generally, though, it was a good episode! Lots of stuff with everyone, a lot about grief and mourning, terrible things for Ryo, questionable things for all the Troopers, past and present... Just a lot of neat lore, and more questions for Episode 7: Memory.
There's also some cute new cover art for the series album that's coming out:
Mirei's end (at least for now) reminds me of Wolf's Rain, with that relentless trudge of continuous loss in a hopeless battle. The heroes will probably win, but at what cost? So I'm kind of hmm. I can't say I'm happy this is turning into a Wolf's Rain situation, given how utterly depressing that series is, but well... It doesn't seem that surprising. But Ryo's return is giving me hope maybe she'll come back. Unless she's meant to be the Shutendoji parallel (maybe that's why she has pink hair! Cause you know reddish-brown > pink???), which... well.
This - Kaito catching an exhausted Gai - is the kind of stuff I wanted more of with the Shiroi Kikotei: that it drains the user so much, he needs to be supported by others, so that's fun.
Also yay for Kaito/Gai folks :D
I find it interesting that Sasuke cares whether or not Mirei lives, given how all the Braves seem to feel about humanity. I imagine he views it as keeping your word. Again, the Braves are complex individuals we don't have a lot of insight into. They feel kind of like extras in an aside, discussing the plot between major plot scenes where the audience can hear them, which kind of fits with some of the stage-based references in the show (like the door transitions). It's certainly a choice. As is the giant tuning fork lol
If you are tuning your instrument in the modern day, don't use a tuning fork. There are apps that are so much more useful.
Modern Kaos!!! In shadow memory!!!
No Shutendoji, I guess (that hair is definitely white and not red/brown, that is Kaos, not Shutendoji).
Well, Nasti/Ryo shippers are living.
Now, now, Gai, let the man explain just how you were born and who had a kid with Ramaga if that's really your origin story.
So much of this episode is why it's bad to fully share your plans with your enemy, which is, I guess, also why we're only teased about Gai's backstory again.
Hey, Shuu, Shin, and Touma's leg!
Just in time for Shin's birthday! Ah, a fully remade Yoroiden Samurai Troopers with modern animation would be so nice...
Well at least this seems to put to rest the question of if Season 2 of YST is canon, because this is the final battle in Episode 39. And which is heavily paralleled by the events of YSST Episode 11 (hence why Ramaga gets the armor, which Ryo makes Arago absorb). It's still up in the air if the OVAs are canon, but at least YSST didn't entirely nix season 2 of YST (I mean it doesn't matter anyway, especially for folks who don't care about YSST, but just saying...).
I still think this "I can change anyone as I please" stuff is setting up revivals (especially given Ryo survived, at least for now), but who knows! Maybe it's Wolf's Rain ending and everyone dies. While the Braves do a song, apparently. Even the little boys Musashi tried to save, who get names, get puppetted T-T
I am fascinated that Izumo has a gun, given Japan's stance on these things, but well, he is from a nationalist party, I guess. Then again, given some tropes of higher-ups in offices with guns, maybe there was another reason he had it... I'm still suspicious of why he's in the story and Nasti specifically made a deal with him for DST, but given what we've seen of this episode... it'll be interesting to see if any of that comes up in future, particularly in Cour 2.
I think part of the mass puppet thing is to, I guess, make saving the world less... distant than it was in the first show? Because they just saved people because it was the right thing to do, not because they necessarily cared about people on an individual level. The stakes are closer to home, I suppose. Or it pads time, who knows? Also feels a lot like the ending of the first Sailor Moon anime season, just saying...
Of course Ramaga can't walk, he has to leap into the air really high and then fall.
"More passion! More shouting!" lol There are random moments of humor in this episode. At times this show is extra violent and at others, it's your typical goofy tokusatsu. If you want a good tokusatsu not precisely parody, I guess, but close, I would highly recommend Mr. Villain's Day Off.
I would be shaking that bell like a dog with a toy, given Ramaga's comment that it bothers him, Nasti.
The attack animation of the flames when Ramaga and Gai fight is pretty.
Shion, babe... know your ancient texts!!!
Well... Ryo's not dead! So... Win! Saved by the power of parallel storylines!
Worried he'll still collapse and dissolve at the end of this (e.g., "I had enough for one last fight..."), but well... Maybe he'll just get Shin, Shuu, Touma, Seiji, and Byakuen, and everything will be fine! Poor guy's still had five years of his life stolen from him and lived in a presumed nightmare all that time, but he's at least acting stable enough, so that's good!
"Epilogue" is an ominous episode title, given Cour 2 is later this year, but well... Here's hoping we see more of gen 1 next ep, because we still don't know what happened to them.
English machine translation (Firefox plug-in): "Nasti is secretly connected to someone! Shion is heartbroken that Nasti has left his injured comrades behind in the evil world due to this plot, and feels an anger that she cannot express. Meanwhile, the Last Name Group of the Ten Braves are falling victim one after another. The remaining members, Kakei and Mochizuki, finally rise up in rebellion. And as the appointed date arrives, Gai and his friends enter the evil castle, but standing in their way is…"
The new OP with Shion and Jun was also uploaded to YouTube:
The series website, twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Sunrise's website.
English machine translation: "Three months had passed since Gai sacrificed himself to put an end to the demonic rebellion. A new commander had been appointed to replace Nasti at DST, and Tokyo, which had been in a state of devastation, was showing signs of recovery.
While the people enjoyed peace, only the pioneers felt a sense of incompleteness in Gai's absence.
However, strange occurrences begin to happen again in the skies above Tokyo, foreshadowing the return of evil spirits. Kaito and his companions head to the realm of evil spirits to find the cause, and there they find Gai, who has been turned to stone at the Fountain of Annihilation."
All the new character information cards for the Troopers have also been released:
A promotional video summarizing season 1 was also released:
The series website, twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Sunrise's website.
Thoughts on 鎧真伝サムライトルーパー | Yoroi Shinden Samurai Troopers, Episode 9: Outbreak (it was pretty fun :D):
The new OP with Shion and Jun was also posted on YouTube:
Having their chests be projectors is funny lol
Was Nasti, who made a deal with nationalists and training child soldiers, also evil this whole time??? -dramatic gasp-
And we learn at last what at least some of Yoshie's issues were. And who "sent" the Sword of Domination to Shion? Also Ramaga? Why?
Okay, so Ryo was on a quest around the orphanage for the Mirror of Supremacy. But why did he leave Byakuen with Jun lol This still doesn't make sense to me. He's going to a forest, Byakuen would be happy there. Jun did not need a giant white tiger. Maybe animals aren't allowed in forests in this series.
Seiji, Touma, Shuu, and Shin were captured, too T-T I mean it makes sense, but T-T So worried about them T-T And yes, Ramaga canonically lies about stuff, so who knows! Just hoping they're not dead like Shion's team...
I'm glad we get to see more of this random pseudo Tenku armor that Shion wielded while Ryusei was in the green one.
How did you wield this, Shion? Did your virtue change? Was this the Hardsuit before YSST's main story? Like this, it looks a lot like Touma's armor, which makes sense, as the other armors are spoken for by his teammates, but they why is he wearing the green armor now? Why is his virtue grace, like Seiji's, when Touma's was wisdom?
And we get to see more of Ryusei and Shion's old team :D And I guess maybe the one woman ever allowed to be a Trooper. Died and zombified before we even really knew her, RIP Sieun.
I really love the animation in the sequence where Gai walks over and takes the Jewel of Conquest from Nasti. It's really smooth.
People have commented that shows like this know to keep the fujoshi happy, and really, they do.
It's good to remember that female fans have always been integral to Sunrise properties and they are very aware of that, as explicitly emphasized multiple times over the years by Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino.
The pan-up for Sasuke, which is something almost always reserved for female characters being objectified in visual media, is a thing of pure beauty.
And so we get more explanation about the origin for Youja here. At least the members of the Last Name Group were originally human. If they "sinned" to become demons, then what did First Namers do? And if First Namers are considered superior for some reason, why doesn't Gai have a last name? Because only the first matters?
Kaito's half-hearted archery lol
I like this pouty Shion shot that uses the 2D animation and looks quite pretty.
Again, I wish they stuck to the 2D all the time. It looks really nice.
Poor Shion, wondering what, if anything, he did to his teammates while he was blacked out. Nasti not only sacrificed them to the Youjakai, she also potentially - and actually - made Shion a murderer.
And so we see confirmation that Gai was not a baby as of about three years prior to the story. So presumably, unless some timey wimey stuff happened between Ryo's capture and Shion's team showing up in the Youjakai, it seems unlikely Ramaga used Ryo's body to create Gai. But I guess we'll see.
Poor Shion T-T Angsty bean. And Ryusei presumably saw at least some of this and said nothing about it, too. Likely to protect Shion.
So the Braves also have power bracelets. Where did Shion get the idea for them? Was that also from Ramaga?
Seeing Kakei and Mochizuki punished is likely a reference to the lava pit Arago would send the Mashou to in order to discipline/strengthen them.
The "Shion's teammates trapped in crystal" thing seems to be a callback to when Seiji was trapped in crystal in Episode 5 of Yoroiden Samurai Troopers. Ryo was the one who helped free him, too. It makes sense that Gai, wearing the red armor here and the heir to Ryo's power, is helping Shion, who's wearing the green armor and the heir to Seiji's power.
Oh? Would Byakuen be useful in the Youjakai? Then why didn't Ryo take him last time????
I respect Yamato's willingness to be Mirei's bottom and/or sub.
What a lovely 2D animated shot:
I mean, it's not the best for Yamato's weapon (and we do get a lot of nice shots of it for whatever reason, versus the weapons of everyone else, which is kind of fascinating... Someone on the team clearly liked that axe more than anything other than maybe Gai's scabbards), but it's nice in general. If only they did this all the time, and no, I will not stop harping on this. I like that we have these shots, but it also makes the ugliness of the 3D worse.
3D Byakuen isn't the worst, exactly. Don't love it, either.
Mmm yes. I see I see XD Sunrise returning to their roots. Yes, I know, Sunrise, I was in the middle of a full rewatch of your 1994 anime, G Gundam, I'll get back to it at some point. People thinking YSST is goofy have not seen any of Sunrise's other media. Certainly not G Gundam (or SD Gundam, which the bad 3D in YSST keeps reminding me of, which I admit I watched very little of and don't mean any offense to, but it's what I think of every time the 3D pops up on-screen). At least the Troopers aren't screaming The East is Burning Red!!!!! dramatically. And hey, weird as the writing occasionally gets in this show, it's not Escaflowne weird. I really need to get more into their actual good things and stop falling for all their messy weirdness. Though to be fair, the Escaflowne movie made Allen so beautiful. I was thinking of him in that movie a lot in this Shion-centric episode.
This is a rather nice shot of puppet Kuroda Seiun (I was looking at where Shion was looking at in the shot for names but w/e):
I'm not a fan of how they tried to make her The Woman and had her midsection skinnier than the others while emphasizing that she had boobs.
Like okay, Sunrise, please stop Sunrising. We get it, you miss nekke Rain.
We also got character sheets for Shimazu Shun and Kato Tadayoshi:
This is a pretty shot:
I think a lot of this is also maybe Gai trying to tell himself this. That what he did to Ryusei wasn't his fault: that he did his best with what he had, not knowing it was a manipulation by Ramaga and would hurt Ryusei. It wasn't Gai's fault he didn't have all the information and Ramaga was manipulating him (and Nasti was keeping information from him). He is, after all, only 15. Or at least I hope Gai is thinking of that. Sometimes it's a "for you and not for me" situation.
The "Shion's teammates trapped in crystal" thing seems to be a callback to when Seiji was trapped in crystal in Episode 5 of Yoroiden Samurai Troopers. Ryo was the one who helped free him, too. It makes sense that Gai, wearing the red armor here and the heir to Ryo's power, is helping Shion, who's wearing the green armor and the heir to Seiji's power (as far as we know anyway given whatever happened with him and the pseudo-Tenku armor in the past).
In a way, Gai is also trying to get Shion to wake up to the truth: that his friends were already dead and puppets, and he was allowing his feelings to interfere with logic. And that Shion was not responsible for this: Ramaga and the sword took hold and killed Shion's friends.
But Seiji was also the one who restored Ryo's eyesight. Like Gai is relying on Shion's aid in the fight, to clear his eyesight of the sword's possession. And the choice to save Gai rather than kill him is Shion's, just like Seiji was the one who came up with the idea to attempt to restore Ryo's eyesight.
Kakei and Mochizuki care about their nakama T-T Also, random side note, I like that their bombs vaguely resemble pumpkins.
Gai T-T He loves his nakama T-T The Braves weren't his nakama: but Shion, Musashi, Kaito, and Yamato are T-T The feels T-T He already hurt Ryusei. He doesn't want more of that.
Sayonara Mochizuki and Kakei. I wonder if Saizo plans to save you somehow O.o Or just threaten Gai into complying with Ramaga's plans. I do get the criticism that the Braves are being wiped out too quickly, especially before we can really explore them as characters. While we are getting a lot of fun stuff with the fourth gen Troopers and their backstories, we have extremely little for any of the Braves other than Nezu, who taught Gai for some time and was close with Anayama. We see moments between the Braves, of them having fun eating together, bathing together, and seemingly being content to hang out without getting into fights mostly involving them fighting over hierarchies. And clearly there are bonds of camaradarie that the Masho never had. But other than Kakei's comment about them being "sinners", we know painfully little about them as people. What sins did Kakei commit to end up as a demon? What did the the First Namers do to become demons? How old are any of them? Although the Masho had relatively little backstory and character exploration as well, they had something in the main series: we learned that Arago recruited powerful humans lusting for even more power, and they were all, from what I remember, military leaders of some sort, from past eras of human history. We largely lacked any connection with them in their day to day other than training, brooding, and arguing, and it's nice that we get more from the Braves on that front at least. But I'd like to know who the Braves really are in the same way we know a ton of stuff about the fourth gen Troopers. Because quick moments where you see they care about each other - like Mochizuki coming to Kakei's rescue - are great, but frustrating in the long run when you have such a large cast of cannon fodder.
I'm glad we're back to in-episode proper previews! That's nice!
Overall it was a pretty decent episode. We got more answers to things, had some neat bonding moments between the characters, and there was some nice animation. Looking forward to Episode 10: Sacrifice, which is not at all an ominous title.
