侍samurai
Quick definition:Samurai were the warrior class of feudal Japan, serving lords with swords and a code of honour, and they are a favourite subject of anime, manga and historical dramas.
Meaning
Samurai were professional warriors who served noble families and regional lords in Japan, and they held high social rank for centuries. They are best known for their swords, armour and a way of life often described as bushido, the way of the warrior, which stressed loyalty, discipline and courage. The class ended in the nineteenth century, when Japan reorganised its society and army.
Samurai anime follows swordsmen, wandering masters and warriors caught up in the politics of the past. Some are serious and historical, while others are comedies, fantasies or science fiction blended with samurai themes. Duels, mentor relationships and questions about duty appear again and again.
Ronin, meaning wave person, is the word for a samurai without a lord, and these wanderers are especially popular heroes because they live outside the system and must decide their own path.
Origin:Samurai comes from an old Japanese verb, saburau, meaning to serve or attend to a person of higher rank. It first described guards and attendants at court and later became the name of the warrior class. The genre label samurai anime developed from the long popularity of samurai stories in Japanese film, theatre and television.
Example:Rurouni Kenshin follows a former assassin who wanders Japan with a reverse-blade sword, vowing never to kill again. Gintama takes the samurai idea in a comic direction, set in an Edo-like city occupied by aliens, where a lazy swordsman tries to make a living, mixing slapstick with swordplay.
Did you know?The influence went both ways: samurai films inspired Western movies, and Western films later inspired new samurai stories. The Magnificent Seven, for example, was adapted from the Japanese film Seven Samurai.
