Kaze no Yojimbo - DVD

George Kodama steps off a train in Kimujuku — a small, isolated town somewhere in Japan where time moves slowly and strangers are not welcome. He is looking for a man named Genzo Araki, who disappeared fifteen years ago in connection with an incident the town has buried and refuses to discuss. Kimujuku is divided between two rival criminal factions that have kept an uneasy equilibrium for years: the Ginzame group and the Dogan group, each controlling different parts of the town's economy and criminal activity, each watching George with suspicion. George checks into the hotel — neutral ground — and begins asking questions nobody wants to answer. The longer he stays, the more apparent it becomes that Araki's disappearance, the town's division, and something that happened fifteen years ago are all connected — and that everyone in Kimujuku has been quietly waiting, with dread or hope, for someone like George to arrive and force the truth into the open.

Kaze no Yojimbo is a 25-episode mystery drama produced by Studio Pierrot in official collaboration with Kurosawa Production — the estate of Akira Kurosawa — directed by Hayato Date (Naruto, Naruto Shippuden), written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa (Inuyasha films, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing), and based on the structural premise of Kurosawa's 1961 masterwork Yojimbo, which was itself inspired by Dashiell Hammett's 1929 hard-boiled detective novel Red Harvest. The series transplants the lone ronin archetype into contemporary Japan, replacing swords with fists and the feudal clan conflict with modern gang warfare, while preserving the core dynamic of an enigmatic outsider manipulating opposing factions to expose a buried truth. The score features piano-based compositions that lean into the noir atmosphere. Bandai Entertainment acquired the licensing rights and began releasing the series on DVD with Volume 1 on April 27, 2004, followed by additional volumes through early 2005, and a complete six-disc collection on July 25, 2006. The English dub was produced with a Los Angeles cast. The Bandai Entertainment license has since expired and the series is not currently available through official streaming services.

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Hayato Date (Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, Kaze no Yojimbo)
Series Composition: Katsuyuki Sumisawa (Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Inuyasha films)
Original Film: Akira Kurosawa — Yojimbo (1961, Toho); licensed through Kurosawa Production
Character Design: Takeshi Itou
Studio: Studio Pierrot (Sailor Moon, Naruto, Fushigi Yugi, Haunted Junction, Hyper Police, Kaze no Yojimbo)
Music: Tsuneyoshi Saito
Opening Theme: "Burnin' My Soul" by PSYENCE
Ending Theme: "You Are Here" by PSYENCE

Japanese Cast:
• Hiroaki Hirata as George Kodama (WXIII Patlabor Movie 3, Space Brothers, Squid Girl — Sanji/One Piece)
• Sanae Kobayashi as Mizuki Tsurumaki (Elfen Lied — Lucy/Nyu, Freedom — Ao, Ergo Proxy — Daedalus)
• Emi Shinohara as Shizuka Tsurumaki (Sailor Moon — Makoto/Jupiter, Moldiver, Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge)
• Hōchū Ōtsuka as Jinnai (Ghost in the Shell: SAC — Batou)
• Shinpachi Tsuji as Inspector Hayami
• Kōsei Hirota as Kasai (Jin-Roh — Commander Tatsumi, WXIII Patlabor)

English Dub Cast (Bandai Entertainment — Los Angeles):
• Kirk Thornton as George Kodama (Kurogane Communication, Saint Tail, WXIII Patlabor, Goku II: Midnight Eye, Texhnolyze — Onishi, Gravitation — Tohma)
• Mari Devon as Mizuki Tsurumaki (Nightwalker, Gundress, Ghost Talker's Daydream additional cast)
• Jim Ward as Inspector Hayami
• Neil Kaplan as additional cast
• Melodee Spevack as Shizuka Tsurumaki

DVD Features (Bandai Entertainment Complete Collection, 6 Discs)

• All 25 Episodes on