DVJ 2.0

Ronin Warriors (Samurai Troopers)

New Adventures (OVA)

Review by: Devin Pratt

6 Episode OVA

Company: Bandai Entertainment

Running Time: 50 minutes (1^st side)

100 minutes (2^nd side)

Region: 1

Rated: PG (fantasy violence)

---

EXTERNAL EXAM

Now that the evil Lord Arago has been defeated, the Samurai Troopers have taken some well-deserved time off.  While Seiji is invited to New York City to help identify a sword that bears his family’s seal, the other Troopers are throwing Ryo a birthday party. 

Things are not well in New York; there has been a murder spree and it seems the one responsible is Seiji’s Armor of Nimbus.  Now it’s up to the rest of the gang to figure out just what is going on.

The fun doesn’t end there, however, as another enemy appears.  A mysterious African man named Mukala appears in downtown Shinjuku and begins causing trouble.  Ryo and the others race to action, but they find that Mukala has summoned a black version of the Inferno Armor!  Meanwhile, Shin is having a personal conflict; he no longer wants to fight, and runs off to be on his own.  Will this divide the team when they desperately need to be together?  

---

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO: Considering these episodes are 16 years-old, they look pretty good.  There are a few specks of dirt that spring up from time to time, but don’t affect the show much.  Watching these episodes on both my laptop and TV, there is quite a bit of grain in the video, mostly in flesh-tones and the sky.  It’s noticeable, but it’s not very distracting.

AUDIO: This disc has both the original Japanese dialogue and an English dub.  Both tracks are standard 2.0 mixes and have no noticeable problems.

EDITS: For consistency’s sake, the English dub retains the same name changes that you’d notice in the TV series (Kaos – The Ancient, Shin - Cye, Jun – Yuli, etc.).  Also, episode 1 of Gaiden has a minor name change for the dub.

EXTRAS: You get a reversible cover for the DVD case: one side has the Ronin Warriors logo while the other has a Legendary Armor Samurai Troopers logo.  Both sides have the same artwork.  The descriptions for each episode are different for each side, as well.  You also get a full-color insert with a bigger picture of the cover art on one side and a shot of the gang on the other.  

---

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

STORY: In the same vein as the live-action Super Sentai shows (and even St. Seiya), Yoroiden Samurai Troopers is a 39 episode TV series about 5 young men who were given mystical, multi-colored armors to defeat evil.  It’s a rather simple story, but proves to be entertaining and packed with samurai action.

ACTING: While it’s nothing to write home about, the Japanese actors do a good job.  I was surprised to learn that Takeshi Kusao, who also does the voice of Future Trunks in Dragonball Z, did the voice of Ryo.  He sounds very young and appropriate for his role.

As for the dub, I believe all the original actors are reprising their roles here.  Their acting is quite the mixed bag; while I cannot stand the English accent Michael Donovan gave Shin (Cye), his acting overall is very good in the second OVA.  There’s also a lot of localized slang used, which can be grating to some people.

FAN SERVICE: Nothing really for male fans, but some gals might get a kick out of seeing Shu and Shin in their bathing suits.  Also, since the first OVA takes place in New York City, there’s quite a few American company names added into the background (try to notice the Doubleday bookstore in one shot).  Finally, the plane Ryo and the others take in the same OVA is a Sunrise Air Lines plane.  Sunrise is the production company for this series.  

---

FINAL EXAM

This disc brought back so many memories for me.  Ronin Warriors was a show I’d watch in syndication constantly and was my first exposure to anime (besides Adventures of Little Koala, if you really want to go back in time).  While the show still holds a place in my heart, these OVAs are a bit bland to me.

The first story, Gaiden, feels a bit rushed.  While the plot flows well, it suffers from what I call, “James Bond-syndrome.”  Basically, at the last possible minute, major details about the plot are revealed all at once in order to make things come together.  For example, Shikaisen (the villain) reveals in the last ten minutes of the second episode he has poured his knowledge and power into a supercomputer.  The Troopers then have a very brief battle with the computer.  The whole thing made my head spin because it just came out of nowhere.  Also, there are some things that go unanswered like why did Shikaisen kidnap Seiji?  Why not go for the leader, Ryo?

The second story is a really nice add-on to the mythos of the Inferno Armor.  Legend of the Inferno Armor features an interesting revelation about the Trooper’s armor, showing that each is really battle-hungry.  The only thing that calms their love for battle is the five virtues that each Trooper has.  Also interesting is the character Mukala, who uses the black Inferno Armor.  Almost like Gollum and the ring of power, Mukala is possessed by the black armor, and even treats it as a god of some sort.  Unlike the Troopers, Mukala has no virtue, making it harder for him to control his armor’s desires.  This story just seems more thought out and looks beautiful.

One thing has to be said about the disc, however: it liked to skip when I played it on my laptop.  A lot.  And I made sure to check and see if it was my player or if my DVD had any scratches.  This seems to be the only scratchless DVD in my collection that skips this much.  I honestly don’t know if it’s a defect for my disc only or if anyone else has experienced this, but it was very distracting.  When played on a standard DVD player, however, there are no problems to be found.

Overall, if you’ve been dying for more of this series, you really can’t go wrong with this disc.  While the writing may be weak, it’s a nice capstone to one of the classic titles of anime.  

---

Return to Top

Back to the DVD Review Page

©All information protected by DVD Vision Japan copyright unless otherwise noted.

---

---