Samurai Kids

Samurai Kids (水の旅人 侍KIDS, Mizu no Tabibito Samurai Kiddzu; lit. 'Water Traveller-Samurai Kids') is a 1993 Japanese film directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi.^[1]

Samurai Kids
Film poster
Directed by	Nobuhiko Obayashi
Screenplay by	Masumi Suetani[1]
Story by	Masumi Suetani[1]
Starring	Tsutomu Yamazaki Ryo Yoshida Ayumi Ito Tomoyo Harada
Cinematography	Yoshitaka Sakamoto[1]
Music by	Joe Hisaishi[1]
Production companies	Fuji-TV Office 21 Toho Co., Ltd Right Vision[1]
Distributed by	Toho
Release date	17 July 1993 (1993-07-17) (Japan)
Running time	106 minutes[1]
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Cast

• Tsutomu Yamazaki^[1] as Sutonahiko Suminoe (sometimes referred to as 'old man' by Satoru), a miniature samurai who is discovered by a little boy in a river.
• Ryō Yoshida^[1] as Satoru, a young boy.
• Ayumi Ito^[1] as Chizuko, Satoru's sister.
• Jun Fubuki^[1] as Yuuko, Satoru's mother.
• Kiyotaka Nanbara^[1]
• Onoe Ushinosuke VI^[1]
• Tōru Yuri^[1]
• Tomoyo Harada^[1] as Yuki, a librarian who introduces Satoru to the legends of miniature samurai.
• Ittoku Kishibe^[1] as Fumihiro, Satoru's father.
• Ishirō Honda as Grandfather^[1]—Obayashi included Honda's portrait as a posthumous cameo, honouring him as a filmmaker, and paying respects to him as a friend.

Release

Samurai Kids was distributed theatrically in Japan by Toho on 17 July 1993.^[1] In the Philippines, the film was released as My Little Bodyguard on 24 August 1995.^[2]

Reception

Samurai Kids won an Excellence-Silver Award for Japanese Movies in the 11th Golden Gloss Award.^[3] The film won two awards at the Japanese Academy Awards: Best Music Score for Joe Hisaishi and the Popularity Awards for the Most Popular Film.^[1]