History Summarized: Samurai

I'm about two months late to the Samurai Jack meme train, but when you're a time-travelling samurai warrior out to destroy an evil demon, what's a month or two?
For more on the Warring States Period (Sengoku Jidai), check out Extra Credits: • Warring States Japan: ...
*This video was shortened from its version as originally posted.
This video was produced with assistance from the Boston University Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.
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[@terranova4797]

History Samuraized

[@davidking6242]

TerraNova a wasted opportunity...

[@mr.bluesky8554]

ha

[@nothingtospiffy8287]

Ayyy

[@duaspontes3716]

u didn't

[@atomicbuttocks]

Gtfo

[@dantpointy436]

Tired of your local government not paying attention to you? HIRE A SAMURAI

[@CryoJnik]

Note: only rich and powerful people could hire samurai. Poor people who could not afford to hire samurai did not hire samurai.

[@marcnassif2822]

@@CryoJnik The Samurai became organized and powerful More powerful than the government

[@emileroberge9459]

Marc Nassif then meiji era happened

[@marcnassif2822]

@@emileroberge9459 You seem to be missing some important culture I recommend you watch bill wutrz's "history of japan". It's quite enlightening

[@emileroberge9459]

Marc Nassif i saw the vid a long time ago

[@Troublethecat]

Westerners aren't the only ones who romanticize samurai. A lot of that stuff about samurai comes from Japanese media too.

[@atsukorichards1675]

Yes. They are more like our favorite toys to play with in every way.

[@patricksvarietycorner5700]

Also didnt alot of tje more romantic stuff about the bushido come from hirohitos rule in japan?

[@Alias_Anybody]

The masked Ninja in all black was also made up - by the Japanese themselves.

[@Troublethecat]

@@Alias_Anybody Yeah. Those costumes come from Kabuki Theater. The stage hands wore those outfits whenever they went on stage to move props around, so sometimes they'd have an actor playing a ninja wear one to hide themselves from the audience. Because of that, the outfit ended up being associated more with Ninja in media outside of Kabuki.

[@stefansauvageonwhat-a-twis1369]

It's not close, but similar to how USA made out cowboys in 20-60 media I think

[@lahlybird895]

Blue: Samurai Jack is complete inaccurate, Also Blue: *starts and ends with a Samurai Jack reference*

[@mr7sythes]

I mean he said it was inaccurate that doesn't mean it isn't cool as all hell

[@lahlybird895]

@@mr7sythes Lol, true

[@shadiversity]

10:36 An absolute pleasure good sir! and thank you very much for this wonderful video and the glowing mention ^_^ I can't wait to see your future work!

[@thatlonelygiraffeinc.6989]

SHAD! Good to see you, how are you feeling today?

[@xaimaralexisii9095]

glorious shadddd You're here toooo! I also love your channel maan

[@tehdmanvids3]

THIS IS THE BEST LAD

[@Cendoria]

METICULATIONS!

[@spookyshadowhawk6776]

Love your channel as well, especially the Jericho Sword, surprisingly Advanced for the time! See you there.

[@Cloverpotato]

"Isn't a bandit" Well.. by the standards of the guy in charge in the time period he's stuck in, he kind of is? He's definitely an outlaw.

[@AquinasBunny]

Fun fact: the naginata was also the traditionally favored weapon of the samurai-ko, or female samurai. Samurai as a social caste included the wives and daughters of a daimiyo's retainers and, while they rarely rode out in pitched battlefields, they were still rigorously trained for combat, as they were expected to be the first line of defense if their homes and villages were ever invaded. Since the invaders were usually on horseback and the samurai-ko usually weren't, the naginata was the weapon of choice for lady samurai and was known as a woman's weapon.

[@jonsnor4313]

Naginata were wielded in praxis only by males. The only difference is that female members of the samurai class learned limited fighting skill with the short katana, and to be ruthless and receice more education. Naginata was a normal samurai weapon, because it is a good weapon. For females probably too, becaus spears dont need that much skill and strengh to be effective.

[@sayakroy010]

Not a feminist, I strive for true gender equality and people like you are coming on my way. Feel free to dump your mental waste somewhere else. This generation is well off without beings like you, and of course other toxic feminists, who claim men like me are similar to dickhead like you. You are right about those pissed off dumb feminists, I give you that.

[@Animefreakess]

@Kshitij RajNow I don't believe you on that point. Women can be just as vicious and violent as men. In fact in a lot of early cultures, the war gods were female ie Morrigan, Kali, Sekhmet. Heck even Athena was a goddess of war. Remember the amazons? They're not just a myth. Though they had both men and women fighting. Same with the celts, vikings, Spartans (Though the Spartans were more about home defence.) And there's probably a ton I've missed in Africa (I really need to do more research on African history.) It's really only in the modern times where women have been prioritised over their baby making facilities above all else... And also try researching the amount of women who've dressed up as men to go and fight... It'll surprise you.!

[@itshunni8346]

@Kshitij Raj Actually female samurai were not uncommon, they were members of the warrior nobility (Bushi) and called Onna-Bugeisha. they were trained to use the Naginata, Kaiken, and Tanto. they were very much home defense, they protected the household or villages when the men were away or if there wasn't enough men. they're far older than samurai and continued right into samurai times where there are many accounts of female participation in battle. in Japan some testing was done on corpses and about 30% of the corpses away from castles (where female casualties were more common) were female. they served as spies quite often, and there were some units in history that were fully female, like Ikeda Sen led a force of 200 women, it was a teppo unit (gunners). so in the context of sengoku japan where the samurai were especially famous saw quite a bit of female warrior, the most famous is probably Ginchiyo Tachibana.

[@tokidokiaudiobooks]

@Kshitij Raj Try reading a book instead of making assumptions based on your sexist notions on what a woman can and can't be.

[@Samm815]

Jack isn't a samurai. He's a prince. A samurai is a servant. Jack is a ruler.

[@VYxFrost]

Tell that to literally everyone in the future, because they and the evil goop-overlord keep calling him Samurai XP

[@moonymonster]

Aku's probably insulting him, the rest don't know what Japan is XD

[@hippieskye8794]

Jack was trained in Samurai style combat so he kinda is a Samurai just not a serevent

[@Alexiosization]

He's a Samurai. Even the Daimyo were considered to be samurai. Even the Shogun.

[@Samm815]

What i'm basically saying is that in Tokugawa Era Japan, Jack would be at the top of the totem pole not the middle with the Shogun, Daimyo, Samurai, and Ronin. Besides Jack wasn't really trained as a samurai. He was trained in every combat style he could get his hands on including sword combat.

[@Yunanimouse]

HIRE A SAMURAI.

[@user-eh1tv9pj2d]

Note: only reach important people hired samurais, poor people who could not oford to hire a samurai didn't hired a samurai.

[@tiffanyrivas5611]

Артур Чугай it's a reference to the film the Seven Samurai.

[@robertgao9988]

Tiffany Rivas it's a reference to history of Japan

[@tiffanyrivas5611]

Robert Gao omg thank you so much for clearing that up. Because I didn't know that there's only one true reference to a line from the film Seven Samurai. thank you for correcting me.

[@Taheen93]

Totally sang this to myself. X-D

[@geoffreykandolo973]

It's as if thousands of weebs screamed in agony as their fantasies got ruined in an instant XD

[@jayblade2000]

I laughed too hard at this

[@GallowglassAxe]

It is glorious music to my ears.

[@Inaset1]

I'm pretty sure if someone is a weeb and wants to be japanese (or whatever weebs want). They would do research and found out the facts. Heck even in anime depiction of the samurai is more realistic usually showing them as rich scum who kill people with an occasional honourable one who is probably the main character who's special

[@geoffreykandolo973]

Oh wow second rated comment sweet. I just aim this to the people that only read manga such as naruto and got their assumptions from those media, I know I used to be a guy like this more in love which the idea of Japan than the reality of it

[@perciblejames268]

Geoffrey Kandolo Good one Lad.

[@Just_Some_Guy_with_a_Mustache]

Well now you gotta do a ninja episode. I want to know whether or not the Naruto run existed.

[@xenothecatboi]

Just Some Guy with a Mustache GOD DAMN YOU'RE HERE TOO?!

[@Knightwolf1994]

@@xenothecatboi He's everywhere.

[@Trollgaming1987]

I don't think the naruto run existed as well it feels like my back is about to break and ninjas would do that weeb shit

[@MrAlexH1991]

It did, but it didn’t look much of anything like the Naruto run you’re thinking of. It was more of a leaning forward scuttle, holding the scabbard of your sword, and letting your body weight and gravity move you forward.

[@CoolVictor2002]

the hand signs is a buddhist hand prayer (kuji in)

[@thedoruk6324]

Jack is Royalty by the way; he is the Son of the freakin' Emperor :)

[@perciblejames268]

The DORUK And my friend.

[@DarkAvengerVIM]

The DORUK and his "quest" was based on vengeance for his father's murder, something that happened all the time. So he ignores a lot of *very* Samurai things Jack did.

[@kirinbo115]

It's not easy being the son of the Emperor *SU Doug shades activate*

[@devildavin]

Jack may be the son of a Emperor but that does not mean he is Samurai. i don't think most Daymio would let their offspring be samurai since that would put them in danger and thats why they would Hire a Samurai

[@zashgekido5616]

@@DarkAvengerVIM He doesnt have a master. That alone means hes not a samurai.

[@sponge9791]

This video can get stolen, HIRE A SAMURAI

[@frozenruby4222]

Note: rich, important people hired samurai. Poor people who could not afford samurai, did not hire samurai.

[@dominus9963]

In the year -1000000000 Japan may have not be here.

[@myrelion91]

The Gentlemen Network I see you're a man of culture aswell...

[@benabramowitz18]

In the year -40,000 it was here, and you could walk to it. And some people walked to it.

[@mareizia]

And then it got warmer an there's a lot of treeeeeeeeees cause it's warmer

[@charliekelly3873]

You could make a religion out of this

[@_attiicus]

And it was beautifulllll

[@Ms10000123]

The Japanese have mythologised the samurai themselves as well, with Hakegure being a very influential text even beyond the era of samurai. Many of the values there are still found in Japanese culture. Don't just blame the west.

[@mad0813]

I don't think he's blaming just the West remember he brought up anime as well being a cause of confusion.

[@amanofnoreputation2164]

...In a similar manner to how the west mythologized knights. I get the strange feeling that beneath all of the false equivalences and confusion, there is actually a valid comparison to be made between the two. The idea of a warrior caste of "good" and "honorable" fighters is a little self contradictory ans naice from the outset: obviously anyone who makes it high up within a society isn't going to stay there long without conforming to it's system of values. Values that are never going to include "evil" or "dishonorable." Even the worst of the worst are going to try to appear respectable on the surface when it matters.

[@literaltrash7760]

This is amazing, I’m half Japanese and my mother’s maiden name was Taira (平) , which was from a samurai clan in Japan.

[@kaijuslayer3334]

Before the Meiji Restoration timeframe, most peasants did not have a family name. But once the Meiji Restoration had started and ordinary citizens needed a family name for Western style documentation, many chose names from previously existing samurai/noblemen families. Hence why you can see last names that exist for many Japanese that once belonged to a clan, but it’s not 100% they are actually descended from said clan.

[@ervinughy2078]

In today's competitive world, it's rare to see someone selflessly promoting somebody else in this manner. It's so nice to see, that the KZbin community tends to stick together, especially the education focused channels. It was Shad who led me to these videos, by the way, and I couldn't be more grateful.

[@diegoflores5952]

I guess you could say that this was history......samuraised....ayyy

[@thatlonelygiraffeinc.6989]

ayy

[@beyer1608]

Ayyy

[@freshcomic2006]

ayyy

[@saulo4302]

A _y_

[@cristhianramirez6939]

No

[@asalways1504]

Gaijin Goombah talked about Jack being a ronin instead of a samurai. With that said, gotta get back, back to the past, Samurai Jack!

[@ingonyama70]

We will never forget you till the day we diiiiieeeee...Samurai....Sa-sa-Samuraaaaaiiii...

[@DavidJoh]

As I recall "Samurai Jack" was actually the son of a daimyo. Can't remember whether his dad was dead but he was a noble. Not that this is an excuse for not wearing armour.

[@merrittanimation7721]

David Johnston Son of the emperor, actually

[@jonsnor4313]

And his primal quest is avengig his"master" his father

[@spencergallucci5309]

Daimyo were of the samurai class. Soo

[@abdulmasaiev9024]

What about the fact that he's trapped in the wrong time, cut off from his resources? That sounds like a fairly decent excuse to me!

[@DavidJoh]

@@abdulmasaiev9024 He was trapped in the wrong time after being banished from a battle with his arch enemy. He was dressed wrong when he arrived.

[@pokemonpreadythepokemonmaniac]

0:00 Speaking of Aku, he shares the same voice actors with Uncle Iroh from Avatar: The Last Airbender, the late Mako Iwamatsu (1933-2006) and Greg Baldwin (b. 1960)

[@TheNN]

Y'know, you say that Jack isn't a samurai and you're right, but, the show flat out tells us that to be the case from day 1. Aku states: "A foolish samurai warrior wielding a magic sword..." Aku is such a history buff he knows Jack is just a con and isn't even wielding ANY proper blades a Samurai would use, let alone everything else.

[@kekero540]

Do a video about the jassinarys (I can't spell) they are really interesting and deserve a video in their own.

[@elliecraig8428]

*Janissaries Assuming you mean the Elite Ottoman Soldiers. Yeah, it'd be awesome to see a video on them.

[@goldenfoxa1810]

Boots Jew why are they race traitors

[@andrewstevens8343]

Cicero Jannisaries?

[@geraldgrenier8132]

+golden foxa while I would not use that term to describe them, but the reason was they were children from non Muslim family (primary Jewish and christian one) raised to protect a Muslim ruler. at a time when their family where blocked from holding official position, but other wise allowed to follow their own religons under Muslim rule.

[@NelsonStJames]

You're correct, a video on the Janasaries ( I can't spell either) would be great!

[@hunterkiller1440]

Thank you. I'm sick of ignorant weeaboo's romantacizing these bureaucratic servants.

[@shikigranbell7608]

Hunterkiller1440 then why is your profile picture a japanese superhero series i.e super sentai?

[@greenfa7786]

Everything is romanticized, like pirates, knights and cowboys Wether its a good thing or a bad thing is up to you

[@Ed-1749]

It's not just weeaboos, the japanese romanticize them just as much. What's the last time you saw japanese media treat samurai like bodyguards and tax collectors.

[@CoralCopperHead]

@@shikigranbell7608 Because super sentai have absolutely nothing to do with the glorification of ancient Samurai, maybe?

[@SpinningTurtle66]

I don’t see anything wrong with romanticism. Most things that have been fantasised about in the West (pirates, knights, samurai) because they are, frankly, either boring or completely disgusting and selfish people. No one wants to think about a servant with a sword or a bandit who was good with a katana - we like to think of paragons of honour, or defenders of the people. While this may be completely inaccurate, it fuels great creative media and can give people a sort of idol to look up to, even if they weren’t really like that in history.

[@ElGringoCastellano]

"Count Dooku vibes" is officially my favorite phrase

[@MikeTXBC]

Katanas were also very fragile and difficult to make. The whole "folding the metal" a bunch of times wasn't to make the sword super strong (as many people believe), it was to hammer out impurities in the metal. Most of the iron in Japan was of very low quality, similar to what Europeans would've called "pig iron" and many blacksmiths/swordsmiths in Europe refused to work with metal ore that low quality when forging weapons or armor. While it's true katanas were sharp, it's also untrue that European swords were "dull, crushing" weapons or somehow less refined. European swords could be very sharp, it just depended on the sword's job. Some people also believe that Japanese swords were "better" because they lasted longer and European sword rusted. The truth is all swords rusted eventually if they weren't taken care of, but because it was so difficult to make swords of any decent quality in Japan, many noble families kept the swords as family heirlooms they'd pass down to their sons. In contrast, Europe tended to use their swords more often than keep them as showpieces (probably because decent quality iron was a lot easier to come by) so fewer swords survived throughout the centuries.

[@michaelterrell5061]

Katana was not fragile. They could and often did chip, however fragile would basically mean that it would break in two which did not tend to happen at all. And the iron was not of low quality, it was full of impurities, but said impurities would be gone after a lengthy process. After the impurities were gone the Japanese smiths were left with a darn good piece of iron that made a pretty great sword. It is important not to mythologize the Katana but it is equally important not to downplay it.

[@Dragonian05]

I was playing For Honor while watching this, and the idea of the samurai starting off as secretaries made me chuckle a little. Just imagining a very confused Japanese man, with or without an abacus, screaming at the top of his lungs while engaging an equally confused viking or knight character seemed hilarious.

[@FonVegen]

One out of ten Japanese citizens was a mercenary at one point? Wow.

[@Ms10000123]

Not exactly, at least not any more than in the way soldiers are mercenaries. Samurai are a social class, any in the biggest times of war (clans fighting eachother) lots of families were part of that class.

[@davidsenra2495]

@@Ms10000123 Soldiers can fight for causes, volunteer, etc. Samurai only fought owning to duties to their superior daymios.

[@Ms10000123]

​@@davidsenra2495 Reducing either soldiers or samurai to mere mercenaries is dumb. If you are going to say that samurai are just fighters for whoever they are loyal to, you are clearly talking out of your ass.

[@ericohm9474]

Yea that whole "mercenaries" thing is pretty misleading. Like quite a bit of this channel honestly. I really hope people arn't seriously using this channel as their only source of historical context.

[@kaijuslayer3334]

The way he described all samurai as mercenaries is kinda iffy because the logic can be applied to almost any soldier to call them a mercenary. So unless all soldiers who are payed are considered mercenaries, samurai don’t usually count as them.

[@UnMonoDesquiciado]

4:20 : "Japan is an island by the sea filled with volcanoes and it's BEAUUTIFULLLL"

[@eyeguy2476]

I'm glad that you clarified that Samurai's behavior would change depending on where they were from and what period they were around in. It just made me happy that you didn't give a cookie cutter answer like "they're all honorable" or "they're all dishonorable" but instead delved into where their loyalty actually was and that was to their Daimio so they were not actually entitled to being good to anyone else but them. Also I'm glad that you're sending people to Shad's channel. He makes brilliant content! :D

[@elliecraig8428]

Surprised you didn't mention Metatron. If you haven't seen his videos, he's like Shad, but generally more focused on Japanese weaponry and often roman armaments as well. His channel is much older, as well, so there's more videos to watch.

[@goldenfoxa1810]

ooh mama Mia metatron my favorite Italian guy

[@wahlex841]

Shad minds dragons tho.

[@cadeyrnkearney5930]

There are many resources on historical european martial arts on KZbin. In my opinion, none of them, not even Shad, is correct all the time, or at the very least, they aren't able to touch every single point the need to make. That's why I prefer to follow a large variety of channels, _The Sword's Path_, _SnapJelly_, _Metatron_, _Shadiversity_, _Skallagrim_, _Lindybeige_ and of course, the great man from _scholagladiatoria_. There are more, of course, but there is no way I can follow every single one. Anyway, this means I have a lot of educated opinions to look in on when I want to learn something.

[@gaslar3328]

and the best part is the moment when they make videos to answer to each others ^^

[@cadeyrnkearney5930]

Yup!

[@saeriroux]

That intro. Was. Amazing. 10/10 one of the greatest things I've ever seen.

[@abbeycase143]

I T W A S I, A K U!!!!

[@tworice]

Chamberlain the Skeksis omg ur profile pic

[@devinward461]

Diamond Ocelot925 HMMMMMM

[@Killerwale-hk4wy]

Would be cool to have a video about knights, since there are also a lot of misconceptions there. It's an old concept and can mean a lot of things and the title still exists to today. But a lot of other channels probably discussed this already.

[@starmaker75]

blue has watch samurai jack.* Instant likes* also EXTRA THICC

[@hunterkillerslayer1264]

The fact that Shad is getting recognition makes me happy. Also, I'm always impressed by the amount of research that goes into these videos. There is so much information packing into a relatively short video, and I usually have to watch it a few times to absorb everything. Overall, well done! I always enjoy your stuff.

[@davidmurillo211]

I love both Shad and Extra Credits and I'm glad to see they influence another one of my liked content creators. I would also like to to add that Invicta has a video about the Mogul Invasion of Japan that I enjoyed. Keep it up guys.

[@DrunkenPilotVideos]

But isnt samurai jack the son of the emperor. In a way his father was his master aswell.

[@loganyates3923]

Yup, to be honest Samurai Jack is his own thing and is often not a good example

[@creditsunknown7974]

He is mostly a ronin

[@sflaningam7680]

Samurai is "one who serves", the son of the Emperor serves no one but himself.

[@sflaningam7680]

@17mohara Hara That's not really serving in a duty sense, so much as being a good son.

[@Ssure2]

When you know half of the historical events mentioned because you know History of Japan by heart. Also, *'Hire a samurai'*

[@FenrirKyuubi]

THANK. YOU. Seriously can't thank you enough for this, as a huge fan of historical Samurai, you've no clue how much you've pleased me with this.

[@xamified4432]

omg I've been waiting for Japanese History Summarized videos!

[@user-eh1tv9pj2d]

Vikings Samurais Are Knights next?

[@TheThegoldenspatula]

Systematically destroying For Honor, one group at a time.

[@DrWarman86]

You should also have mentions the reinstatement of the samurai and possible class mobility of Imperial Japan during their golden years of colonization after the Meji era. In other words the build up before and during WW2. Loved the video by the way!

[@Midiport]

I loved that little part where you explained the mongols and how the shogun is more powerfult than the emperor because you explained it well and because of those little footnotes

[@anindyassdey]

Hell yeah Bill Wurtz videos.

[@kailey108]

These intros are the BEST.

[@noeldiwas3006]

Dude, your channel is so awesome! Please, please keep making more videos! 😁 😍

[@henrymarckisotto9025]

All the name drops are great. Excellent channels. Extra credit is amazing for any easy learning about some cools stuff and shadowvesity is amazing for anything swords

[@Frank-ju8qr]

I'm glad you mentioned Extra Credits, it's a really great channel

[@yagi6381]

Can you do one of Mexico?maybe Aztecs aka Mexicas, or Mayas?choose your fav

[@cng9054]

A video just got posted on the Maya, Aztec and Inca. Will be going after this video. ;)

[@rodrigogiles5390]

there are many more cultures and civilizations in ancient Mexico then aztecs or mayans

[@linguisticallyoversight8685]

Modern Mexican are about as much Native as they are Spanish ,black and a few other ethnic groups and most of the Native or indigenous peoples aren't even Mayan they make up like only 1/8 of the overall native population there were dozens of other native tribes and groups that lived in the area that is today known as Mexico around the time of the Spanish conquest

[@rateeightx]

"Mayas"? The Maya Were The People, And Multiple Maya Are Still Called Maya, And One Maya Was A Maya.

[@lomz1393]

@@rateeightx "Mayas" is the plural of Maya in spanish

[@andrewvarney5687]

7:06 nice plug for Extra Credits series on the Sengoku Jidai Blue!

[@rabbadidi7385]

Thank you for making this video. I wrote down some notes to help with my japanese studies at university starting next year

[@kirinbo115]

If he does Knights next, I'm officially considering that he's seen Game Theory's video

[@CoralCopperHead]

ew.

[@gorillazzillathemeh5897]

The intro, so much love for it. RIP Mako.

[@bellbell251]

BEST INTRO EVER! Thanks for this video!

[@Kenjitsuka]

Great shoutouts to Shad and Extra History! Only the Metatron was needed for the holy trinity ;) :D Anyway, great video; thanks! :)

[@Emanon...]

Good video. Samurai were just like warriors everywhere else: Robbers & Dishonorable Backstabbers. If anything the Sengoku Jidai shows that ninjas were the true loyal and honorable servants of their clients.

[@bigjavo36]

Really giving shad some love this cool I found you guys through him.

[@rahuliyer_2290]

What a nice video! Thanks for making this!😃

[@kokofan50]

You actually didn't make knights and samurai sounds any different. Knight comes from an Old English word for servant, and over time knights become the warrior class. There's, also, robber knights, fealty, and other things. All in all, comparing knights and samurai is a very good one.

[@jaspervanheycop9722]

Knights were a cavalry elite first and foremost though, they were always a warrior class, at least for the duration of the Middle Ages.

[@kokofan50]

Knights being cavalry isn't a hard rule. The English knights liked fighting on foot. Also, the word knight (or at least it's precursor) was used for people who weren't warriors, but over time as the servants fought for lords the word knight became the word for the warrior class serving a lord.

[@Ms10000123]

+Jasper van Heycop Samurai mostly fought on horseback as well, and knights didn't necessarily fight but could as well just send whoever they had at their disposal.

[@Ms10000123]

+psychotic I don't know the percentages, neither to verify your claim about knight or about samurai, but the samurai class consisted of family lines as well, attaining positions for children through connections made. They weren't just hired workers, but a social class.

[@kokofan50]

Psychotic Muffin, early samurai tended to be the lesser sons of nobles. However, in the sengoku jidia samurai were just guys who could fight well, and then in maji era it became a hereditary class.

[@seekertosecrets]

Maaaaaan, that intro cracked me up! Damn, the ending got me again!

[@phillipamorris422]

There is something special about having one of your favorite youtubers talk about another one of your favorite youtubers.

[@gentlemandemon]

After you mentioned all the stuff about knights, it would be interesting to hear about them! Maybe even a video specifically about the differences in conceptualization of knights and samurai.

[@TravenTalks]

I have to get back, back to the past . . . COMMENTER JACK xD Memes aside, great video. Very informative, learned a lot of cool things. And that intro was beautiful :P

[@SweenusSwinginHisDingus]

You mean to tell me, Blue, that the show about a warrior being sent to the future by a magic demon isn’t historically accurate? For shame

[@pyrosianheir]

I take it back. /This/ is my favorite intro you've ever done.

[@sagnikadusumilli3385]

That is the best intro you have ever done Blue.

[@oisin3230]

Holy crap, I'm early and it's samurai!

[@thedoruk6324]

Yes ! Pure Gold ! This is like a gift easter egg from our glorious masters Red&Blue !

[@Trollgaming1987]

The gift is a easter egg on bo3 zombies right

[@Aelric78]

Appreciated the link to Shad, he introduced me to your channel in the first place.

[@juliogarcia4757]

This is the best intro I’ve ever seen

[@vedymin1]

Yari would be a spear, naginata was a type of halberd.

[@louisplag329]

Mozoto My favorite Yari is the Nageyari

[@nathandestler1309]

A type of... halberd? I mean, they're both polearms, but a halberd is closer to an axe on the end of a stick, similar to a poleaxe. A naginata is more like a glaive, or maybe a war scythe sharpened on the other side. I wouldn't normally be a stickler for precise polearm terminology (that way lies the madness of early editions of D&D), but you're claiming a naginata is a halberd rather than a spear. The thing about that is that a naginata is, if anything, closer to a long-bladed spear than to a halberd.

[@vedymin1]

When you look at european examples, there are many with blade shape similar to a naginata, not all halberds would have crescent-like blade shapes. When taking into account the much bigger amount of types of european polearms( glaives, bardiches, guisarmes, partisanes, fauchards etc ) a simpler approach is more adequate, i would presume. Many people had the same problem when trying to use their own ruler for the japanese weapons. The fact that naginatas were often used by guards and are used as ceremonial weapons is an another similarity to halberds. I wouldn't say that Naginata is a spear, types of attacks are different, blade shapes are different, lengths are different, type of use on the battlefield was somewhat different. Of course there are examples of spears that you could slash with (broad, leaf shaped spears), but the thrust is still available in them, not so really in naginatas. The fact that most european halberds could thrust quite nicely might be a point against naginatas being halberds in european sense, true, I would personally go with halberd/glaive.

[@nathandestler1309]

A glaive, certainly. A glaive is probably the closest European polearm to a naginata, both being essentially a single-edged cutting blade on the end of a stick. But the halberd is kind of a different story. Perfect categorization is impossible with medieval weapons, but in general, a halberd would have an axe-like cutting edge opposite to a back-spike that could be used for attacking or hooking, both mounted below some sort of spear-like tip. While there's a certain amount of variance in the specific designs, I can't really find any versions that are very much like the naginata. After all, the naginata lacks the axe-like cutting blade, the back-spike, and the spear-tip. While they're both fundamentally polearms used for cutting, the traits that define a halberd as different from other polearms are simply absent in the naginata. I mean, feel free to provide sources showing otherwise, but there aren't a lot of similarities that I'm aware of, beyond them both being polearms with strong cutting capabilities. Again, I would argue that the naginata has more in common with long-bladed spears that are capable of effective cutting, and while I think your point about thrusting is a good one, I'm not actually arguing that the naginata is a spear. Simply that it's even less a halberd, which, as you note, is also a much better thrusting weapon than the naginata. The use as ceremonial weapons doesn't strike me as particularly consequential, here. Yes, both of them sometimes were, but then so were spears, and so were swords. I could use the same logic to say that a longsword is basically a katana, and... no.

[@vedymin1]

The halberd went through quite a bit of change before being somewhat codified, even looking very similarly to naginatas, here is an example: myarmoury.com/talk/files/early_halberds_1a_580.jpg especially the middle one on the picture. The separate spearhead was added later to better deal with pikemen and spearmen and the hook mostly for cavalry. Taking into account quite a bit of variety in blade shapes of both naginatas (some could thrust quite well) and halberds, some of which overlap, i wouldn't say its really an error. The fact that these saw similar use on the field and as a guard weapon can be made to draw some conclusions helpful in codifying it as well. The ceremonial aspect was just a loose conclusion that both are used even today during some festivities or even in courts or places of faith. In the end, when looking strictly at the final shapes of these weapons i might be persuaded to call it a glaive rather than a halberd though.

[@jamesclark6864]

Honestly, the fact that Jack is a Ronin actually helps the story (at least in terms of letting Jack react genuinely to his surroundings.)

[@awsomesaucekirby]

I heard him say "I don't have the time or art to talk about the sengoku jidai" started typing to recommend extra credits, and he beats me to it.

[@anthonynorman7545]

Best OSP intro!

[@orrusfellin5150]

Should of added sounds of typing to the intro when Jack slices Aku. It would increase the comedic value.

[@Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

Anakin likes cosplaying as these guys for some reason. He even stole their helmet.

[@joeredmond7227]

he thinks it can compensate for not having the high ground

[@trippsmythoftheaurigancoal8155]

Blue, love your videos & how informative they are... Thank you... (And, I have a MA in History & use your videos to help educate my kids...)

[@thealastair9047]

i love the videos you guys make

[@jturner6419]

Im to young to have my Samurai Jack dreams crushed!!

[@rexremedy1733]

The Short KId its fine! everything is fine! dont listen dont watch!!! .................. everything is fine!

[@ryfors]

Speaking of weapons, my history teacher at Keio University told me that the weapon that killed the most soldiers in Japanese wars, after the word, was... rocks. Picked up and hurled at the oppnents in the midst of battle. The samurai was not noble in the positive light. They were as grey as all demographics.

[@kaijuslayer3334]

I severely doubt that just because armor exists. Armor to the point a pretty common way for fights to end was one warrior pinning the other down and then using a blade to stab through a gap in the armor.

[@ryfors]

@@kaijuslayer3334 ​ I'm not the historian here but I will try to explain it. Please do with it as you will and I encourage both you and I to do a more research into it. Here is the explanation as I remember it: For the longest amount of time armour haven't been full-plate, and even after that armour is very expensive. Most soldiers won't wear helmets in large battles and heavy armour slow you down, limiting the army's flexibility. As long at you aren't wearing a top of the line helmet it only takes a simple rock to end a life. Not trying to start an argument, just try and further explain my professor's lesson. have a good day.

[@GrandLotus-Iroh]

LOVE the intro in this one

[@ariesthezodiac7274]

The Samurai Jack reference made me laugh. Nice going Blue! (I prefer the rapier to a katana or tanto, it's more precise.)

[@Lh0000]

“The chibi Shaped master of history” huh.... that sounds really adorable actually...

[@user-ov5zm5rz3v]

When is Samurai's best moment? It is the moment when you betray his master. All samurai climb the ladder of success with loyalty. But the last moment of success is the moment of mastering the master. This is a brutal time that only consists of betrayal. As a warrior, a person who loses patience and becomes a betrayer is stigmatized as a traitor, whether he succeeds or fails. If the last stair succeeds, then the betrayal of the moment that no one can reject is the best moment of the samurai. Because that moment is the only moment to escape from the chain of loyal owners, and it will be the moment when no more masters are on top of him. Of course, there will be a scarecrow Tennoh, but ... The loyalty of samurai exists for a single betrayal. In Japan's history, this sweetness is very few. Ashikaga Takauji, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu ...

[@LORDOFDORKNESS42]

*Loved~* that A-Blue bit. Thanks for making me laugh.

[@calebcampbell9280]

I always (well, since I learned about such things) interpreted Jack's lack of battlefield regalia to mean he was an Edo period samurai since, as you mentioned, that time was marked be peace during which unarmored sword duels became more common among samurai. Incidentally, this period is probably where a lot of the romanticization of the katana as the symbol of a samurai took root since, as alluded to in this video, the katana was a sidearm which was typically true of swords in most cultures. And a shoutout to Shad and Extra Credits in the same video?!? It's neat when the channels I'm a fan of are fans of each other.

[@xenon9030]

A S H A M E FUR D I S P R A Y !!!

[@robadc]

A SHAIMFRU DISPRAY!

[@nobodyfromnowhere3597]

To be completely fair samurai are the equavalent of medival knights being high end muscle for local lord... What is more interesting that both codes of conducts have rather similar purpose and themes to it being honor based. Obviously there are difrences geography, culture and history kind of make it different.

[@mondaysinsanity8193]

Nobody From Nowhere the bushido code we know today was written in ww2 era Japan to try to boost morale and such, it was SUPPOSEDLY written based on oral traditions and such since we have no historical writings or anything of bushido(atleast at the time) and what we do know makes it seem there was no one bushido code

[@mondaysinsanity8193]

Also the guy that wrote the modern bushido code had a hard on for the idea of "chivalrous knights"(another bullshit myth) and the code of chivalry

[@jonsnor4313]

They are the same position with the same function, with minor cultural differences.

[@sherriosborne1496]

That intro I swear was the best thing ever

[@lunaequinox7333]

I have a wooden carving of a tanto I got at a Renaissance fair a few years back. Of all my model swords, I’d say it’s the coolest one.

[@FlorenceFox]

Great video, but... I'm sorry, did you just call the naginata a spear? My weapon nerdery can't let that go. A naginata is a polearm, but not a spear. The Japanese equivalent of the spear would be the yari. The naginata is more akin to a glaive. The key distinction being that a spear is a thrusting weapon with a straight pointed tip. The naginata (like the Western glaive) is instead primarily a slashing weapon, sort of like a pole-sword. Remember, all spears are polearms, but not all polearms are spears.

[@Midiport]

NOW ALL OF KZbin KNOWS WHAT A SAMURAI IS

[@wahlex841]

What backwater part of youtube are they from?

[@darklordofsword]

Just a note, regarding the "jintachi". The word itself refers to the normal manner of mounting and wearing a tachi, a longer sword with a heavier curve than the later katana, which was worn edge-down suspended from the obi, instead of thrust through it edge-up like the katana. The version with the weird reverse-curve tsuka is totally unknown in historical examples and is a style only found in cheap decorative swords.

[@nathac41]

I appreciate that opening so much.

[@kristofgriffin384]

I immediately clicked the moment I saw Samura Jack.

[@katnerddd6223]

So basically, what did the rich people do to make samurai? Hire a samurai.

[@samchafin4623]

That Samurai Jack intro made my day!

[@mitskinnies7876]

That intro was so beautiful and so funny I literally couldn't stop laughing.

[@LilyTheSmol]

HIRE A SAMURAI! -RU =)