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Yaiba: Samurai Legendhad flown under the radar for many anime watchers ahead of the spring show season.Fire ForceSeason 3,Wind BreakerSeason 2, and the adaptation ofThe Beginning After the Endseemed to be at the top of people’s lists after early rounds of teasers.
However,Yaiba: Samurai Legendis shaping upto be a sleeper hit. Social media is abuzz with fans gushing over how great the visuals look and the nostalgic feeling of the simple story and characters. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why you should not miss out on buying into this charming and refreshing show.
What is Yaiba: Samurai Legend?
A Throwback to a Classic Era of Anime
This newest version of the show is a remake of an anime released in the 1990s calledKenyu Densetsu Yaiba. The title in Japanese translates to “Brave Sword Legend Yaiba.” In Japanese, Yaiba is a word meaning blade or sword.Yaiba is also the name of the main character, Yaiba Kurogane.
The series follows Yaiba from his beginnings raised in the jungle by his famed sword-wielding father Kenjuro Kurogane to his journey to improve his skills after arriving in modern day Japan. Yaiba meets Sakaya Mine, the daughter of the Mine dojo, who takes the young boy in to train as he satisfies his desire to fight stronger and stronger opponents and become a true samurai.
“So this is a girl… Neat! So neat!” -Yaiba Kurogane
Very soon into the story, Yaiba discovers that he is a chosen warrior destined to combat great evil and mustimprove his skills to fight off demonic forceswhich threaten the entire planet. The story combines classic tropes of coming of age adventure, fantasy fights, and good versus evil into a simple but satisfying blend.
Why the Remake Has People Excited
An Anime With Immaculate Vibes
New fans of the show were very impressed with the quality of the remake. The visuals, animated by WIT studio, are gorgeous and feel like they were produced with care. People on social media found themselves unexpectedly drawn to the charm of the show despite its simple premise and characters.
“In the current anime industry, where even the most prioritized, passion-driven projects usually end up being compromised in some way, Yaiba feels like it could be one of the few that isn’t.” -X userfokeman.
Although just the first episode has been releases so far, fans were enthralled by the way even simple fights had great attention taken in their animation to make them dynamic and interesting. Episode 1 was a spectacular showing of how to introduce the plot and the important characters while still making room for a theme or message.
In the modern era of anime, there is a long-forgotten art that used to be prevalent in older media where episodes were based around communicating a theme or idea. InYaiba: Samurai Legendswe are shown through Yaiba’s combat encounters how being different and doing something unexpected can lead to great reward. This is first shown against Yaiba’s fight with the ape, wherehe intentionally turns his backto his opponent to create an opening to win the battle. The theme goes further with Yaiba and his father’s arrival to a new place, seizing the opportunity to train at the Mine dojo. The theme is then further reinforced later, where Yaiba takes what he learned from his ape fight in the beginning to win against the dojo’s supposedly most gifted student while struggling against him initially.
Yaiba: Samurai Legendfollows on the success of the recently releasedDragon Ball Daima, which sawGoku and friends shrink to the size of childrenin what felt like a throwback to the origins of the series. InYaiba: Samurai Legend, the main character follows many similar beats to Goku. These include his stubbornness, innocent kindness to others, and even specific plot details like him meeting a girl for the first time and his desire to seek out stronger and stronger opponents.
Classic anime fans have at least one reason to rejoice this season inYaiba: Samurai Legend, which may help blunt the impact of any of the other shows they are looking forward to not living up to expectations.
