Abarenbo Shogun

Abarenbo Shogun, with a much older Tokugawa Yoshimune on his horse (2003)

Details

• Title: 暴れん?将? / Abarenbo Shogun
• Also known as: Unruly Shogun
• Episodes: 831
• Genre: Jidaigeki renzoku drama
• Air time: Varies
• Viewership:
• Broadcast network: TOEI (now TV Asahi)
• Broadcast period: 1978 thru 2002, with a Final episode in 2003
• Opening Theme Song: Abarenbo Shogun Theme (暴れん?将??テーマ)
• Ending Theme Song:
  • Hono'o no Otoko by Kitajima Saburo (1st few hundred episodes)

Season-by-season Schedule

• Season 01: 01/07/1978 to 05/22/1978 (?? eps)
• Season 02: 03/05/1983 to 03/07/1987 (?? eps)
• Season 03: 01/09/1988 to 09/29/1990 (?? eps)
• Season 04: 04/06/1991 to 04/26/1992 (?? eps)
• Season 05: 04/03/1993 to 03/26/1994 (?? eps)
• Season 06: 10/08/1994 to 01/20/1996 (?? eps)
• Season 07: 07/13/1996 to 01/25/1997 (?? eps)
• Season 08: 07/12/1997 to 03/07/1998 (?? eps)
• Season 09: 11/07/1998 to 09/39/1999 (?? eps)
• Season 10: 03/30/2000 to 09/14/2000 (25 eps) (799 eps between 1 and 10)
  • Season 10 Special aired on 01/11/2001, marking 800th episode overall
• Season 11: 07/15/2001 to 12/10/2001 (19 eps)
• Season 12: 07/08/2002 to 09/09/2002 (10 eps)
• Final Episode: ??/??/2003

Synopsis

Tokugawa Yoshimune is the 8th Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate. He continues to have bad people creating havoc within his city of Megumi. With the help of his close associates, Lord Tokugawa is allowed to roam throughout his city, disguised as Tokuda Shinnosuke, an average Joe living within Megumi. By mixing in with the population, Shin-san (as everyone in the city calls him) is able to research issues first-hand. His help include oniwaban (ninjas) and the captain of the Megumi fire company. Yoshimune uses the fire company as his base while he's away from Himeji Castle. The captain of the company, and the oniwaban know his identity, but everyone else in the city are unaware that he is the Shogun. Once Yoshimune solves the crimes, he confronts them. Just about every time, the bad people whip our their samurai swords in an attempt to kill Yoshimune, although most of the time they still don't know who he REALLY is. Most of the time, Yoshimume flips his samurai sword so that the dull side is out. This way, he can still take his opponents down without making sashimi out of them. Very rarely will he actually hit people with the sharp part of the blade... They have to be some really mean guys for Yoshimune to go that far!

The show was frequently topical, and touched on many themes of present-day life. The most common subject was political corruption. Drugs, unequal power relationships, poverty, urbanization, the generation gap, inflation, and the tension between Japanese and foreign knowledge were recurring themes.

Abarenbo Shogun aired from 1978 thru 2002. In 2003, TV Asahi aired a final episode, ending Matsudaira Ken's 25-year reign. --- written by Groink 20:56, 24 Jul 2005 (EDT)

Review

When I first watched Aberenbo Shogun, two other shows came to mind. The first one is the tokusatsu Japanese TV series Kamen Rider V3 (TOEI, 1973). Both Abarenbo Shogun and V3 are quite similar in the way the formatting flow. Both series have incredible theme music. Second, the opening credits portion are very similar... Yoshimune is stampeeding on a horse, while Kamen Rider V3 is riding along on his motorcycle with bombs blowing up around him. And, the fighting scenes have some really cheezy sound effects (well, Abarenbo Shogun has a lot less).

The second show is the 1957 movie Toyama no Kinsan Hayabusa Bugyo (TOEI, 1957). Kataoka Chiezo plays the character of Toyama Kinshiro, a commissioner from northern Edo. He goes undercover as a commoner to unravel the mystery behind a series of murders committed within the city. Kinshiro and Yoshimune are almost identical in that they detect trouble within the city, they disguise themselves so that they blend in, they find out who the bad guys are, and then they kick butt! The only difference is that Kinshiro has his shoulders covered with Sakura tattoos, which he displays when confronting the bad guys. All Yoshimune does is say, "I know who you are! Drop that sword and put your hands up!!!!"

With all three of these shows made by TOEI, maybe that's why they all feel similar. As for Abarenbo Shogun itself, I'd score a 5 out of 5. That's because the show has a lot of action, heart, and great storylines. --- written by Groink 20:56, 24 Jul 2005 (EDT)

Production Credits and Cast

• Producer: Ozawa Eisuke
• Director: Ozawa Eisuke, Tomari Tsutomu, Ichikura Haruo, Morimoto Hirofumi
• Screenwriter: Ozawa Eisuke, Imamura Bunjin

Cast

NOTE: The episodes weren't numbered. Fans attempted to number the episodes, including KIKU-TV, but the numbers differ between collections. Therefore, it is impossible to indicate which episode a particular cast member made an appearance. Also, there were literally over 1,000 guests appearing throughout the years. As a result, the cast listing consists of artistes who appeared in the show either on a regular or semi-regular basis.

• Matsudaira Ken as Tokugawa Yoshimune
• Yokouchi Masashi as Tadasuke (original)
• Tamura Ryo as Tadasuke (replaced Masashi's character)
• Arishima Ichiro as Kano Gorozaemon
• Funakoshi Eiji as Tanokura Magobei (replaced Ichiro's character)
• Kitajima Saburo as Tatsugoro
• Yamamoto Joji as Chojiro (new captain when Tatsugoro retired)
• Hamahata Kenkichi as Yamashita Konai
• Yokouchi Tadashi as O'oka Tadasuke
• Miyauchi Hiroshi as Sukehachi (original male oniwaban)
• Natsuki Yoko as Osono (original female oniwaban)
• Asaka Mayumi as Sagiri (replaced Yoko, but as a new character)
• Takashima Reiko as Kozoe
• Harukawa Masumi as Osai
• Asaji Yoko as Osai
• Watanabe Atsushi as Monjiro
• Ito Tsukasa as Oyo
• Godai Takayuki as Saizo
• Misora Hibari (a limited number of eps early on)
• Ryuko as Ryuko, the retired sumo wrestler turned fireman
• Ishino Yoko (later seasons)
• Matsumura Yuki (later seasons)
• Nakamura Azusa as Turuhime Chizuru
• Ikuina Akiko as Obun
• Takashima Tadao as Shishido Kanbe
• Nagauchi Minako as Tsukishima
• Omori Takahito as Jyumonji Hayato
• Otake Kazue as Ayame
• Wakayama Genzo as the narrator, who along with Ken, appeared in every episode

Other Resources

• JDorama.com