Stories Inside Cards: Six Samurai, Part 1

Disclaimer: Well, if you've been following this series of articles, you know the drill. This is my interpretation of the story, yours may differ, et cetera. However, this time things are a bit different, as this lore has a Master Guide and has been featured in Master Duel's solo mode. The former is required to connect some dots.

What Is a Samurai?

First of all, I want to explain some terms around the samurai I believe are important to understand this story. Don't worry, I'm keeping this short.

The samurai first appeared in Feudal Japan, and were pretty much the warrior class for many years to come. The word samurai literally means "the one to serve." Their honor code is the bushido, which translates to "the way of the warrior." At first, the samurai protected the land of the people, but later they became warriors for the emperor or the shogun.

The shogun was the top military commandant of a shogunate, the hereditary military dictatorship of Japan. In the chain of command and power, he was ranked below the emperor, but in reality, he was arguably more influential than him.

The Yu-Gi-Oh! samurai story is not set in the real world. While heavily inspired by real life personae and history, the events take place in the monster world. This becomes obvious in certain artworks I want to analyze in a follow-up article.

One more thing worth mentioning is a likely source of inspiration for this archetype, Akira Kurosawa's film Seven Samurai.

The Legendary

was a very skilled and ambitious warrior, looking for more than victory and glory in battle. He was after something bigger—real power. At the time, it was impossible for him to achieve his goals on his own. He needed a team, and a team he formed. A team made up of six members, six samurai, the Legendary Six Samurai.

These samurai were , , , , , and, of course, . Yes, he is the same guy, just wearing an armor. Shi En is pretty much the leader of the six.

We can't be sure what the other five members' purposes were. Were they, as well, seeking power? Did they see something in Shi En as a leader? Were they idealists who thought that through battling, they would end up seeing more peaceful times? There is not a definitive answer.

Anyway, among the six members is also a woman, Mizuho, who is married to Shinai. They can be seen wearing matching necklaces, with either's necklace corresponding to the colors of the other's armor.

The Legendary Six Samurai were a force to be reckoned with. No one stood a chance against them in battle. Shi En was the most impactful, though. In contrast to the other five, he had his own , a kind of , and a . The body double would be wearing sometimes, depending on the situation.

The whole team lived in a , except for Shi En, obviously, who stayed alone in his . The entrance of the temple was decorated with the of the Six Samurai, a symbol that would last for many more generations. Inside the temple, which was probably owned by Shi En, was a . and trained a lot together there. The two had some kind of rivalry going on. They were allies, members of the same team, but fierce competitors, always trying to surpass each other.

Shi En's plan was to gain control of an entire area and put an end to all the ongoing there—he was striving for rulership in order to establish and maintain peace. Trying to achieve this, he and the other samurai unleashed devastating attacks. Shi En, alongside Kizan and Enishi, left opponents hopeless with their all powerful . In a similar fashion, , using his technologically advanced armor, attacked opponents with .

The attacks were successful every single time. Thus, as time progressed, Shi En gained more power. As a result, after plenty of battles, he gained control of a huge portion of land, keeping it . The wars were finally over. Shi En also set up in order to surveil everything and maintain peace. Finally, the Legendary Six Samurai could for a while. But it wouldn't last for long, and things were about to drastically change for the team.

Well, if you haven't read between the lines already, Shi En wasn't the best kind of guy; in fact, you could call him evil, a deal with the devil kind of evil. But only one of the other five samurai would see the darkness inside of him. That samurai was , and Shi En was well aware of that, fearing that Shinai could see right through him, and realize what his real intentions were.

So, one fateful night, inside his , Shi En the murder of Shinai. Likely, his and his were also present, becoming part of the conspiracy.

Shinai was later found dead, or at least that is what the other four samurai heard from Shi En. He was holding his nervously while delivering them the bad news. No one suspected that he was involved.

As you have probably guessed, Shinai's death devastated , his beloved wife. She wanted to get away from everything and everyone. Some was what she needed the most, if just for a while. Alone, herself and the water, becoming one with nature.

While under a waterfall, Mizuho heard something. Her eyes were wide open, but she could not believe in what she was seeing right in front of her. It was a floating armor, looking like it was possessed by a …

The Six

The years passed, and the Legendary Six Samurai passed their mantle on to . Their names were , , , , , and . Again, one for each attribute.

This time, each of these samurai is based on a real Japanese samurai or warrior. More specifically, Zanji on Gochi-in no Tajima, Irou on Sasaki Kojirō, Kamon on Gamō Ujisato, Nisashi on Miyamoto Musashi, Yaichi on Nasu no Yoichi, and Yariza on Maeda Toshiie. Each of the six wields a weapon similar to or exactly the same as their historical counterparts.

Their armors are more technologically advanced. They seem like upgraded versions of armor, who has now grown much . Sadly, he has lost all his limbs and had them replaced with mechanical ones. The armors of those new samurai need to with some form of electricity in order to function.

The current team of samurai have plenty of unique fighting techniques. Irou can slash through anything and anyone with a single . Ninashi can use his swords with great elegance, cutting through all enemies. That's not his only skill, though. In a duo with Yaichi, the two combine their strengths into a special swords and arrows .

The remaining four samurai also team up in two pairs of two in order to fuse their strengths into devastating offensive moves: Irou and Zanji through enemy lines with their sword and naginata, while Yariza and Kamon perform an explosive , a direct attack with the former's yari and the dynamites of the latter.

These Six Samurai are deeply to each other. They would do anything to protect their friends and allies, even give up their for them. There is a legend that during a fierce battle, Irou, Kamon, Yariza, and Nisashi themselves for their friends.

Meanwhile, Kageki is not the only one of the Legendary Six Samurai that is still alive. Most of them have survived up to this day and their stories continue.

To Be Continued

Looks like our time is up. You can find the continuation of this epic tale in my next article. Stay up to date and follow Cardmarket on social media to not miss the conclusion of this legendary story!

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Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, not of Cardmarket.