When it comes to our favorite anime, I believe we’ve all experienced hoping for that sequel or that next season to come out after a hiatus. But imagine my shock when I heard that a sequel to the original Samurai Troopers was to come out after a hiatus of thirty-seven years!
The original 1989 Samurai Troopers (also known as Ronin Warriors) could be considered a close relative of the 1986 series Saint Seiya, a series that I’ve cherished for decades. Both anime series could be said to involve armored “magical boys” who are duty-bound to defeat enemies. The original Samurai Troopers made deliberate use of traditional Japanese syncretism, whereas Saint Seiya relied more on Greek mythology for its inspiration. Both series also bore similarities to the ongoing Japanese live-action “super sentai” or tokusatsu series, which have been running since the mid-1970s. Traditionally, each of the five warriors in Samurai Troopers owns an armor suit that is tied to both an element and one of the five principal Confucian virtues: compassion, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, and faithfulness.
The new 2026 series seems quite literally to take place thirty-seven years after the events of the original 1989 series. It is set in modern day Shinjuku, where the citizens and government are constantly prepared for demons to attack, demons which are very similar to some of the antagonists in the 1989 series. To that end, five warriors have been gathered who are supposedly the heirs of the heroes of the original series. However, something seems off: rather than mythic armor, they are wearing something like jointed plastic plug suits; and rather than magical weapons, they seem to be bearing only lightweight batons or sabers.
We soon learn that not only are their enemies complex, but they themselves are complex as well. I am old-fashioned and prefer clear “good guys” and “bad guys,” but it seems that I will not get that in this series. Furthermore, another newly introduced character, named only “Gai,” seems to have become only reluctantly involved with the Samurai Troopers. Gai is a demon turned human via a magic bullet, and our own Twwk recently interviewed his voice actor Hiiro Ishibashi at Anime Frontier. And soon we learn that the current so-called Samurai Troopers are indeed not what they appear to be, at least not yet.
Clearly, the 2026 Samurai Troopers will be going in a very different direction from its 1980s roots. I have no idea where it’s headed, but at the very least, I’m intrigued enough to try another episode. I would rate this first episode 7/10 on MAL, which is better than the 6/10 I gave the original 1989 series.
Yoroi-Shinden Samurai Troopers is streaming on Crunchyroll.
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