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The Samurai

1962–1987 · 10 seasons

A gentle, old-fashioned adventure serial with simple stakes and a warm, nostalgic pull for younger viewers.

Genres
Comedy, Drama
Overview
The Samurai is a Japanese historical fiction television series made by Senkosha Productions during the early 1960s. Its original Japanese title was Onmitsu Kenshi. The series premiered in 1962 on TBS and ran continuously until 1965 for ten self-contained story arcs, usually of 13 episodes each. Also created were two black-and-white feature films by Toei Company, made in 1964 by the same crew which has created the TV series, and a stage show. The Samurai proved to be highly successful despite its initially very limited budget. It was the first Japanese TV program ever screened in Australia, where it premiered in 1964 and built up a remarkably large fan-base among the local young audience at the time, rapidly becoming a cult favourite. Despite its massive popularity in Australia as well as success in Japan, New Zealand and the Philippines, the series was not widely screened elsewhere and its fame remains largely restricted to those countries.

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Genres
Comedy, Drama
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
    Pacing
    measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
    Attention
    easy-watch, 2 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
    Themes
    • loyalty
    • justice
    • identity
    • family
    Places
    • countryside
    • small town
    Era
    period
    Audience
    family
    Form
    • serialised
    Content intensity
    • Gore none
    • Language none
    • Violence mild
    • Sex none
    All scales, 0 to 10
    Scales, 0 to 10
    ScaleValue0 to 10
    Action5
    Horror1
    Humour3
    Realism5
    Romance2
    Tension4
    Darkness3
    Complexity3
    Emotional weight4

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    Cast

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    Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

    Details

    Genres
    comedy, drama
    Starring
    Shintaro Akikusa, Koichi Ose
    Length
    10 seasons, 128 episodes, 24 min each
    Network
    TBS
    Country
    Japan
    Languages
    Japanese

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