New Tokyo Ronin

New Tokyo Ronin is an American animated action-adventure TV series produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studios. The series was co-created by Ciro Nieli, showrunner of Nick's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Bryan Andrews, storyboard artist and co-creator of Sym-Bionic Titan, and ran from August of 2018 to February of 2023. Most of the series is set in the fictional New Tokyo City, which is a composite city of Tokyo and New York City and has a mix of Japanese and American people and culture.
The series focuses on half-Japanese high school student, Jake Amamiya, who comes into possession of the magical blade Masamune (named after the Japanese swordsmith) and becomes the new protector of New Tokyo, who the media dubs "The Ronin". Along the way, he faces off against countless enemies, such as superpowered criminals and people who have been mutated into beasts. But before he can truly defeat his enemies, Jake must learn discipline, honor, and the ways of the samurai.
== Characters ==
=== Main ===
* Jake Amamiya/The Ronin (voiced by Kaiji Tang) - the main protagonist of the series who is a high school student attending Musashi High and lives a double-life as the mysterious protector of New Tokyo City, The Ronin. He begins the series cocky and snarky but slowly learns discipline and patience. He wields the magical Masamune Blade, which is able to extend to any length and grants Jake several superhuman abilities.
**Kenko (voiced by Cristina Vee) - Jake's companion who is the spirit of the Masamune Blade, represented by a little girl. She is very dry-witted and has a love/hate relationship with Jake, who she sees as immature and stupid. Later on, she warms up to him but still takes jabs at him on occasion.
=== Supporting ===
* Mike Fitz (voiced by Greg Cipes) - Jake's incredibly intelligent best friend who spends a lot of time on the internet. He is very eccentric and doesn't think through his actions a lot of the time, which causes people to find him weird. Later on, he becomes Jake's tech support and helps him on his adventures. A recurring gag is that he believes several insane conspiracy theories.
* Jezebel "Jez" Keen (voiced by Kimberly Brooks) - Jake's other best friend and the head cheerleader at Musashi High. She is very upbeat and charismatic but is prone to worrying and has trouble being patient. In her spare time, she practices martial arts and is thus surprisingly strong.
* Akira Oda (voiced by Andrew Kishino) - a friend of Jez's who Jake doesn't get along with. He and Jake often butt heads but are forced to get along for Jez's sake. He is the star player of the school's football team and seems brash and confrontational but has a very strict moral compass.
* Naoko Oda (voiced by Xanthe Huynh) - Akira's sister who, unlike him, is very shy and timid. She has trouble talking to people and can't come out of her shell. She also doubts herself a lot and it somewhat of a ditz, not being very street smart. She gets along with Jake very much though and develops a crush on him in later episodes.
*Kagami Amamiya (voiced by Lauren Tom) - Jake's mother who was forced to raise him alone, as his father left when he was a child. She does her best to help Jake in his times of need but still suffers from the hurt of his father leaving.
=== Antagonists ===
* The Entomologist (voiced by Jeffrey Combs) - one of the main antagonist of the series who is a well-dressed man with solid white, slightly glowing skin. He is eccentric and odd but very intelligent and cunning. He is also very powerful, being a master of mysticism who is able to use magic to somewhat bend reality. Throughout the series, he turns several people into monsters (Yokai) using magical insects of his own creation.
*Shogun (voiced by Keith David) - one of the main antagonists of the series, Shogun is a very powerful person in crimson samurai armor. He is very large and imposing and is incredibly gifted when it comes to manipulating magical energy. He wields a magical blade of his own, known as the Muramasa Blade, which has the same abilities as Jake's blade.
*The Oni King (voiced by Ron Perlman) - an incredibly large demon and ruler of the ogre-like race known as Oni. He is a megalomaniac who is obsessed with conquering the world and stealing the Masamune Blade. He is extremely powerful, able to manipulate fire and carrying a magic kanabo that can cause earthquakes if he strikes the ground.
*Dr. Hoshiko Yamada (voiced by Stephanie Sheh) - a genius scientist who, initially, doesn't believe in magic but after discovering it's existence becomes obsessed with unlocking its secrets. She is well-respected in the public eye and an idol to many, as well as being the head of the Yamada Corporation, founded by her father. Her powers come from her cybernetic arm and eye, which she created herself.
*The Thunderbird Squad Go, a team that parodies the Super Sentai/Power Rangers franchise. Like the Power Rangers, they all pilot mechs known as Mechadukes who are able to combine into one giant form called the Mechaking.
**Crimson Red Thunderbird (voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch) - the initial leader of the Thunderbirds who acts like a stereotypical Power Ranger, constantly striking poses and talking in an odd, over-the-top speech pattern. He wields an energy sword and pilots the Red Thundereagle Mechaduke, which resembles an eagle.
**Azure Blue Thunderbird (voiced by Wally Wingert) - a solemn and serious person who acts as if he's a ninja. He plays into this role but, in reality, is incredibly cowardly. He wields a giant throwing star as a weapon and pilots the Blue Thunderhawk Mechaduke.
**Rose Pink Thunderbird (voiced by Nakia Burrise) - a girl who acts very cute and girly but, in reality, is stubborn, childish, and gets angry easily. She enjoys being the center of attention and panics when she's not. She carries a spear and pilots the Pink Thunderdove Mechaduke.
**Canary Yellow Thunderbird (voiced by Bryce Papenbrook) - the most intelligent member of the group who is constantly talking a mile a minute and spouting probability percentages. He wields a bow and pilots the Yellow Thunderowl Mechaduke.
**Platinum White Thunderbird (voiced by Jason David Frank) - a member of the group who joins in later episodes. He is by far the most dangerous and powerful and has far higher hopes and more elaborate plans than the others. He easily usurps Crimson Red Thunderbird as the leader of the team, carries a large hammer as a weapon, and pilots the White Thundervulture Mechaduke.
* The Kaiju Emperor (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) - a large lizard-like monster styled after Godzilla who is a part of a race that were meant to be the protectors of humanity but turned against them and were trapped under the ocean. Once freed in the modern day, the Kaiju Emperor continues his quest of trying to rid the world of humanity while also trying to find a way of freeing his kin from their eternal prison.
* Mr. Baba (voiced by Steven Blum) - the leader of the criminal cartel The Demon's Fist, which is based on the Japanese Yakuza. Baba is a cold and intimidating man as well as a master of martial arts who wants to have the whole city in his pocket and will stop at nothing until he does. Most of his episodes have more street-level plots but he does sometimes go after magical/powerful weapons and/or team-up with other villains.
*Lady Love (voiced by Grey Griffin) - a virtual pop idol and parody of the real-world singer Hatsune Miku. She is an A.I. that gained sentience and developed a need for attention and want to be worshipped/followed. Due to this, she gave herself the ability to hypnotize anyone using her singing and has used her powers for many of her plans, which usually involve attempting to conquer the city and/or world.
== Series Overview ==
Main article: List of New Tokyo Ronin episodes
In a world where people have been protected by a warrior wielding the magic Masamune Blade known as The Ronin, 16-year-old high schooler Jake Amamiya becomes the new Ronin after witnessing the death of the old one and being given the sword. Now, it's up to him to protect his home of New Tokyo City from countless threats and menaces, whether they be supernatural menaces or regular people who have turned to crime. However, Jake is undisciplined and impatient and thus is unable to protect his city to his full capabilities. Because of this, he is accompanied by the spirit of the sword, Kenko, who does her best to help him in spite of her own objections. All the while, Jake is doing his best to balance his life as The Ronin with his high school and everyday lives while also trying to keep his identity a secret from the masses.
== Other Media ==
==Notes & Trivia==
*In the world that New Tokyo Ronin takes place in, Japan didn't join the Axis in World War II and thus the attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki didn't take place. Due to this, Japan and America had a much closer relationship and it eventually led to the New Tokyo Ronin world.
*Kenko's name is a combination of the Japanese words ken (剣), meaning sword and ko (子) meaning child. The "ken" part of her name is a reference to her being a sword spirit and "ko" is often put at the end of girl names in Japan.
*All of the Thunderbird's voice actors have connections to Power Rangers. Johnny Young Bosch played Adam Park, the second Black Power Ranger and the Green Zeo Ranger. Wally Wingert was the voice of Psycho Blue in Power Rangers in Space. Nakia Burrise played Tanya Sloan, the Yellow Zeo Ranger and first Yellow Turbo Ranger. Bryce Papenbrook is the son of Bob Papenbrook, who played Rito Revolto and several other Power Rangers characters. And, finally, Jason David Frank played Tommy Oliver, the Green/White Power Ranger, Red Zeo Ranger, Red Turbo Ranger, and Black Dino Ranger.
**In addition, a meta reference is that Tommy Oliver usurped the original Red Ranger, Jason Lee Scott, as team leader, just like how Platinum White Thunderbird usurped Crimson Red Thunderbird as leader.
* Akira Oda is named after Japanese Mangakas Akira Toriyama (creator of Dragon Ball) and Eiichiro Oda (creator of One Piece). His sister, Naoko Oda, is named after Sailor Moon creator Naoko Takeuchi.
*Jake Amamiya's Masamune Blade and Shogun's Muramasa Blade are based on a Japanese legend which said that the swordsmiths Masamune and Muramasa challenged each other to create a sword to see who was more skilled. Masamune's blade was built with patience and goodness while Muramasa's blade was built with wrath and bitterness. Muramasa's blade was more powerful but Masamune won the competition due to his blade being better created.
Category:Animated Series
Category:Nickelodeon
Category:Action-Adventure