Ooi! Ryouma

Aired: 1992

A historical drama anime broadcast on NHK General Television, based on the seinen manga by Tetsuya Takeda (writer) and Yu Koyama (artist). The series chronicles the life of Sakamoto Ryoma, the legendary low-ranking samurai from Tosa whose vision and action helped pave the way for Japan's modernization. From his childhood through his adolescence and into his rise as a key figure of the bakumatsu period, Ryoma's interactions with other revolutionary luminaries and his own moral and political growth are depicted with sweeping ambition. The original author Tetsuya Takeda performed both the opening theme Kusottare no Namida and the ending theme Kaze no Ippo, embedding his personal admiration for Ryoma into the show's musical voice and lending the production an unusual creative continuity from page to screen.