Zenmai Zamurai

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Zenmai Zamurai
ぜんまいざむらい (Wind-up Samurai)
Genre	Comedy
TV anime
Director	Tetsuo Yasumi Kazumi Nonaka (chief)
Writer	Hiroshi Ōnogi Tetsuo Yasumi Ryōta Yamaguchi
Studio	A-1 Pictures, No-Side
Network	NHK
Original run	April 3, 2006 – ongoing

Zenmai Zamurai (ぜんまいざむらい, Zenmai Zamurai^?) is a short subject children's anime created by Momoko Maruyama and Ryōtarō Kuwamoto (m&k). It airs daily in the mornings and afternoons on NHK in Japan. One feature is shown in the mornings and is ten minutes long. The afternoon showing is a 20 minute double feature which repeats the morning episode and adds on another.

1 Story
2 Characters
- 2.1 Akutare Zamurai
- 2.2 External links

[edit] Story

200 years ago, Zenmai Zamurai (Zennosuke at that time) was a thief by profession (albeit not a very skilled one). While stealing from a house one night, he fell down a well and died. He was then resurrected by Daifukunokami (The god of Bounty:大福の神) and a wind-up key (zenmai:ぜんまい) was placed on his head. If the key wound down, Zennosuke would die. The only way the key can be wound is by Zennosuke doing good deeds. In order to achieve this end, he is given the Dango-ken, which is a sword with Japanese Dumplings skewered onto it. Whenever Zenmai Zamurai sees people doing injustice or generally being out of control, he uses his sword to shoot the dumplings into their mouths. When the dumplings are eaten, the people suddenly become happy and realize the error of their ways. He helps out the people of his village in many ways, big and small. Whenever he has done well, a rainbow comes out of the sky to wind up his key.

[edit] Characters

Mamemaru (豆丸) - Zenmai's diminutive best friend and ninja in training. He has a problem with his nerves in that he urinates in his pants whenever he gets a shock.

Zukinchan (ずきんちゃん) - The main female character in the show. She's a good friend of Zenmai and they show a mutual affection towards each other. Her bonnet hides a large, brown afro. Zukinchan also has a pet dog with an afro named Botan(ぼたん).

Chajiji (茶じじ) - Zukinchan's uncle. He's very protective of Zukinchan and has an eye for the younger women of the village. He's content to relax with a cup of tea in his red beret with his cat, Matcha(まっちゃ).

Dangoyababa (だんごやばば) - The proprietor of the Ippuku Dumpling Shop. She is an older woman that has long lost her looks, but more often than not tries to look and act sexy, which is met with disgust by the men of the village.

Namezaemon (なめざえもん)- He is the constant antagonist in the show. Namezaemon is a rich aristocrat that uses money to get what he wants. Because of this, he is very arrogant and selfish. He is in love with Zukinchan and will do anything to get Zenmai out of the way.

Mysterious Cupola Helmeted Man (謎の天蓋男) - He was sent by Daifukunokami to keep an eye on and document Zenmai's exploits in secret. However, in doing this, he often indirectly becomes the victim of some misfortune at the end of the program.

Townsperson Pierre (町人ピエール) - A blonde haired English teacher from Portugal. Even though his spoken Japanese has a strange accent, he studies hard and has quickly learned how to read and write in Japanese, as well as how to say some very difficult tongue-twisters. Dangoyababa is in love with him.

[edit] Akutare Zamurai

Zenmai is the shining example of good in his village, but because of the wind key in his head, he has a great weakness. If he is struck by lightning or shocked on his wind key, his polarity inverts and he becomes the evil Akutare Zamurai. Under this persona, he plays pranks on and makes life difficult for everyone. The dumplings on his Dango-ken also change to slimy balls which turn others evil when eaten. In order to revert back into Zenmai, he has to be shocked on his wind key again.