Line #48 Literature/YoungSamurai


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/young_samurai_ring_of_water.png]]
2	''Young Samurai'' is a series of action-adventure novels set in the early Edo period of Japan, written by Chris Bradford. Jack Fletcher is a twelve-year old English boy and the son of the navigator of the ''Alexandria'', a ship charting a course from England to Japan. When his father is murdered by the ninja Dokugan Ryu, Jack is charged with keeping his father's special navigational chart - the ''rutter'' - out of enemy hands. Washing ashore, he is adopted by master samurai Masamoto Takeshi, who inducts him into his school for samurai, the ''Niten Ichi-ryū''. Despite being regarded as an outsider due to being a foreigner, Jack befriends several of his fellow students, including Masamoto's niece Date Akiko and (eventually) his son Masamoto Yamato. However, Jack yearns to return home to England in order to look after his sickly little sister Jess, left in the care of a nanny.
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4	The series consists of nine books:
5	* ''The Way of the Warrior'' (2007)
6	* ''The Way of the Sword'' (2009)
7	* ''The Way of the Dragon'' (2010)
8	* ''The Ring of Earth'' (2010)
9	* ''The Ring of Water'' (2011)
10	* ''The Ring of Fire'' (2011)
11	* ''The Ring of Wind'' (2012)
12	* ''The Ring of Sky'' (2012)
13	* ''The Return of the Warrior'' (2019)
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15	----
16	!!Tropes found in ''Young Samurai'':
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18	* BattleCouple: Jack and Akiko become this over the course of the series, both becoming skilled samurai with shinobi training.
19	* BigBad: The evil ninja Dokugan Ryu serves as the main antagonist of the first half of the series, though Kazuki takes over that role in the second half.
20	%%* BlindWeaponmaster: One of the teachers at Masamoto's school is a blind monk who uses his sense of hearing and other senses to figure out where his opponents are, and takes advantage of them underestimating him.
21	* TheBully: Kazuki starts off as one, but graduates to a more serious antagonist in the second half of the series.
22	* ChristianityIsCatholic: Played with in that the Jesuit priests such as Father Lucius have convinced the Japanese that this is the case as part of their plot to convert all of Japan to Catholicism, and as such view the presence of Protestants such as Jack as a threat to that goal by exposing that Christianity isn't a unified front. Father Lucius even scornfully dismisses the Protestant interpretation of God as a heretical, heathen deity separate from the Catholic interpretation.
23	* DualWielding: The SecretArt of Masamoto Takeshi's Niten Ichi-ryū school consists of wielding both the ''katana'' and the ''wakizashi'' at the same time.
24	* EarnYourHappyEnding: For much of the series Jack's attempts to find a way back to England [[YouCantGoHomeAgain are kiboshed]] to the extent he considers StartingANewLife in Japan. However, growing persecution against foreigners and Christians makes that impossible. [[spoiler:After much loss and suffering, he is able to return to England, with Akiko at his side.]]
25	* EvilCripple:
26	** Dokugan Ryu is missing an eye, [[HandicappedBadass not that this hinders him in any way]].
27	** Kazuki is left with a malformed hand after Akiko puts an arrow through it at the end of ''Way of the Dragon''.
28	* EvilJesuit: Father Lucius, a Portuguese Jesuit priest introduced attempting to convert Japan to Catholicism. He treats Jack with contempt and distaste due to their rival denominations -- Jack being Protestant -- and is ultimately revealed to be the one who hired Dokugan Ryu to steal the ''rutter''.
29	* EvilTeacher: Hosokawa Yuudai, the kenjutsu instructor, is introduced as a bad-tempered SadistTeacher who [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain singles Jack out because he's European]] and treats Kazuki with favoritism. When Jack and Akiko run into him again after the fall of the Niten Ichi-ryū school, the latter assumes he'll help them out of loyalty to her uncle... only for Hosokawa to [[{{Yubitsume}} mutilate Jack's sword hand]]. [[spoiler:The final novel reveals he was forced to commit seppuku for this.]]
30	* {{Expy}}: Many of the characters are based off [[HistoricalDomainCharacter real-life people]]:
31	** Jack Fletcher is based off real-life English samurai William Adams.
32	** Masamoto Takeshi is based off Miyamoto Musashi, real-life samurai and founder of the Niten Ichi-ryū school.
33	* FinGore: Hosokawa Yuudai cuts off part of the fingers of Jack's hand, crippling his ability to fight until he's able to adjust his fighting style.
34	* FireForgedFriendship: Yamato initially detests Jack out of jealousy, but they become close friends after the first novel.
35	* HandicappedBadass: After Jack's [[{{Yubitsume}} right hand is mutilated]] by Hosokawa, he is left unable to fight properly until he learns a new way to hold his sword from a painter.
36	* HeroicSacrifice:
37	** At the end of the first half of the series, [[spoiler:Yamato sacrifices himself to kill Dokugan Ryu]].
38	** At the end of the second half of the series, [[spoiler:Miyuki sacrifices herself to hold off an army of samurai aiming to kill Jack and Akiko]].
39	* HopelessSuitor: For most of the second half of the series, Jack is oblivious to the fact that Miyuki has developed feelings for him, and only has eyes for Akiko.
40	* JidaiGeki: The series is set during the dawn of the Edo period.
41	* KidSamurai: In the first half of the series, the main characters are samurai-in-training at Masamoto Takeshi's Niten Ichi-ryū school.
42	* KissOfLife:
43	** Towards the end of ''Way of the Dragon'', while fleeing the enemy army Jack and Akiko are forced to hide underwater. Akiko, who practised ''ama'' pearl diving when she was younger, has the lung capacity to hold out, but Jack doesn't. Noticing him starting to drown, she transfers some of the air in her lungs to him via mouth-to-mouth.
44	** In ''Ring of Water'' one of the characters is poisoned by ''fugu'', leading Miyuki to give him assisted respiration.
45	* LegacyCharacter: In ''Ring of Wind'', [[spoiler:Dokugan Ryu makes a comeback after having seemingly been killed, leading Jack and Akiko to hope that Yamato is still alive... up until it's revealed that the original Dokugan Ryu is dead and the person hunting them is a successor]].
46	* LoveTriangle: The second half of the series establishes one between Jack, Akiko, and Miyuki. [[spoiler:It's resolved when Miyuki sacrifices herself to buy the others time to escape from an army of samurai.]]
47	* MistakenForAliens: Or at least for ''{{yokai}}''. Early in ''Ring of Earth'', Jack comes across an old man and his grandson, the latter of whom assumes he's a ''tengu'' due to his European facial features.
48	* MistakenForUndead: While in the care of a travelling theatre troupe, Jack sees Miyuki approaching him while dressed as an ''[[StringyHairedGhostGirl onryō]]'' and immediately jumps to the assumption that she's died and her vengeful ghost has come for him.
49	* {{Ninja}}: ''Shinobi'' are presented as antagonistic in the first half of the series, with Dokugan Ryu being the BigBad. This is downplayed in the second half of the series, with Akiko revealed to have undergone ninja training; and in ''Ring of Earth'' Jack comes across a ninja village and learns that they are people just like the samurai, and even undergoes training to become one himself. Miyuki, a ''kunoichi'' (female ninja) around Jack's age, becomes one of his traveling companions and a rival to Akiko for his affections.
50	%%* PirateGirl: In ''Ring of Water'' the group is captured by wakō pirates, who are led by a woman.
51	* SamuraiShinobi:
52	** Akiko is a samurai and holds ninja in deep contempt, but secretly undertook ninjutsu training and occasionally disguises herself as a ninja.
53	** In the second arc, Jack -- who in the first arc was trained as a samurai -- comes across a ninja village and receives ninjutsu training there, learning that ninja aren't universally evil like the samurai believe but for the most part just people trying to survive in a society rigged to oppress them.
54	* ScamReligion: Jack's interactions with Father Lucius establish that the Catholics and Protestants see each others' versions of Christianity as such -- if not completely separate religions worshipping completely separate Gods.
55	* SinisterMinister: Father Lucius is a Portuguese Jesuit priest who seeks to convert Japan to Catholicism, and is the one who hired Dokugan Ryu to obtain the ''rutter''.
56	* TheStarscream: Dokugan Ryu kills Father Lucius, the Portuguese Jesuit priest who hired him to obtain the ''rutter'', and decides to take it for himself.
57	* TokenWhite: Jack is the only living Englishman in Japan, which at the time had exclusive trade relations with Catholic Portugal. As such, he is discriminated against as a ''gaijin''.
58	* {{Tsundere}}: Miyuki initially distrusts Jack due to him being both a foreigner and a samurai, but slowly warms up to him and develops feelings for him... not that she'd admit it.

Context Literature / YoungSamurai