for those who want to immerse themselves in similarish cultures and either cant get (or don't want to read) the old aeg books I felt a thread covering such would be useful.

fiction.

for light reads you could try lian hearns otori series starting with 'accross the nightingale floor'. This follows a 2 pov strucuture with a heavy magic ninja basis. Beyond the magic ninja this is broadly similar to actual samurai culture.

next you could try Raymond e.feists 'daughter of empire' this is full fantasy (magic users included) and follow the daughter of a famous clan suddenly flung into the head of the clan position by the death of her father. This is a great series which has it all.

my 'best' recommendation is a giant in the field though and is 'shogun' by James clavell. The author was captured by the Japanese in ww2 so would have been forgiven for a negative interpretation but instead has written a magnificent book which I cannot praise enough. Some of the plot elements for feists book are lifted straight from this one as well. Read it, you won't be disappointed.

for films any samurai film by kurosawa is great though my favourites are 'seven samurai', 'ran' and 'rashomon'. Rashomon is the cleverest, ran has great battle scenes and seven samurai was copied almost scene by scene for 'the magnificent seven'. If you like the links to western films 'yojimbo' was remade as 'a fistfull of dollars' and 'the hidden fortress' had a strong impact on the star wars storyline.

if old films are not your thing then try 'samurai champloo'

which is an excellent genre bending anime. For a more historical take 'peacemaker' is good but has a really irritating character some will find difficult not to hate.

so hopefully this will help give some ideas. Enjoy!!

Fine post.

To add some, I find the comic book series "Usagi Yojimbo", by Stan Sakai, a fine samurai food.

Yes, its animals... but the stories and the features are not childish at all.

Course, you could also just read the L5R novels. I was first introduced to the IP via the 7-part series that covered the Clan Wars.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/51403981-fantasy-flight-games?shelf=l5r-inspiration

Compiled by FFG for inspiration

Lone wolf and Cub by Kazuo koike and Goseki Kojima.

Read these. You'll be glad you did.

interesting and though they cover feist and Hearn they don't mention shogun which is amazing. I wonder if its because it was written in the 70s or because it has no fantasy.

mushashi is hard to get through and I disliked memories of a geisha.

2 minutes ago, Matrim said:

interesting and though they cover feist and Hearn they don't mention shogun which is amazing. I wonder if its because it was written in the 70s or because it has no fantasy.

mushashi is hard to get through and I disliked memories of a geisha.

Shogun is great.

I still have my copy.

Some people are intimidated by 1200 pages

While you have me thinking on it, Laura Joh Rowlands 'samurai mystery' novels are also very entertaining

The movie 13 assassins I highly recommend.

Though there is a least one scene that is pretty grotesque. fair warning

I'll second Usagi Yojimbo, also for being a well researched and thought out depiction of the era...just with animal people.

Also Zatoichi.

Folks might also want to peek at "Kubo and the Two Strings," which though not based on L5R has a very Rokugani feel to it.

If Musashi is too much, the Vagabond manga is a goods adaptation.

3 minutes ago, HirumaShigure said:

If Musashi is too much, the Vagabond manga is a goods adaptation.

The classic 3 movie series about Musashi with Toshiro Mifune was also good

Child of Vengeance and Sword of Honour by David Kirk are very good "historical fiction" novels that follow the exploits of Miyamoto Musashi from age 13 to about 20 years old.

It should be pointed out the The Book of 5 Rings (where this game got its name from) was written by the historical figure Miyamoto Musashi. Musashi- the novel, the movie, Vagabond, and the above mentioned novels (and probably a whole lot of other media I don't even know about) are all centred around the same person.

Any one know, was the original character Mirumoto (Dawn of the Empire) based on Musashi? Musashi was famous for his duel wielding (and beating people to death with boat oars that were carved into the shape of a sword).

2 hours ago, khaighle said:

Folks might also want to peek at "Kubo and the Two Strings," which though not based on L5R has a very Rokugani feel to it.

Oh, absolutely. Want to know what a Rank 5 Artisan can do? Watch the movie!

34 minutes ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

Oh, absolutely. Want to know what a Rank 5 Artisan can do? Watch the movie!

Ive almost watched that on Netflix about 4 times now. always passed it up.

Time to take a look

Ok, watched Kubo and the Two Strings.

I'll join the chorus, see this.

I really liked "The Samurai's Wife" novel series. It follows the entire career from a low rank samurai detective who rises to be an adviser to the emperor. It also deals with political marriages, political rivalries, the caste system, and what his wife can do to help him where formalities and his position limit his ability to fully investigate the crimes.

For movies - I think watching "When the Last Sword is Drawn" can give you a great insight in the daily life of a samurai who isn't supposed to care about money, but must provide for his family. It also goes into friendships, and how they can be called upon for favors or what happens when friends turn their back. It centers around the Shinsen Gumi - a totally badass group of Samurai - it injects it's fictional main character among many well known historical figures to allow us to see the world.

These are both light fantasy, with a primarily realistic take on the world.

If you like a lewd laugh - try "John Adam, Samurai." This short novella is a more comical take on Japan as a westerner becomes washed ashore from a shipwreck, and joins the ranks of samurai who serve a feudal lord. Through all of the jokes and questionable situations he finds his way into, he also sees the genuine devotion samurai give to their lord as some sacrifice everything to ensure their lord's schemes comes to fruition for their clan.

7 minutes ago, shosuko said:

I really liked "The Samurai's Wife" novel series. It follows the entire career from a low rank samurai detective who rises to be an adviser to the emperor. It also deals with political marriages, political rivalries, the caste system, and what his wife can do to help him where formalities and his position limit his ability to fully investigate the crimes.

For movies - I think watching "When the Last Sword is Drawn" can give you a great insight in the daily life of a samurai who isn't supposed to care about money, but must provide for his family. It also goes into friendships, and how they can be called upon for favors or what happens when friends turn their back. It centers around the Shinsen Gumi - a totally badass group of Samurai - it injects it's fictional main character among many well known historical figures to allow us to see the world.

Do u mean the Sano Ichiro books?

Yes - Sano Ichiro. Great book series - I just downloaded it all to my kindle to read while waiting for the new L5R.

1 minute ago, shosuko said:

Yes - Sano Ichiro. Great book series - I just downloaded it all to my kindle to read while waiting for the new L5R.

got thru the first 5 or 6 awhile back they were pretty great.

im a little biased though 'samurai thrillers' are my favorite L5R rpg trope to use

I really like the low fantasy setting. Things are very gritty in these books - you really feel like anyone could die, and anyone dying would be tragic. It focuses a lot on the political plots, and the drama between characters of different positions. More action based items like Zato-Ichi are great too, but I typically gravitate towards the thrill of politics, and a kinda expose on the life of samurai when it comes to money and power.

I assume it was mentioned, but "7 Samurai" is probably the most legendary samurai film out there - it gathers very different sorts of samurai together to defend a village from bandits. If you know L5R it's kinda a fun game to place the different samurai into which clan you feel they come from if they were Rokugan. It also gives you a good sense of the interactions between the Samurai and peasant caste.

If you don't mind anime - I would recommend "Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal." Not to be confused with the anime series by the same name (they actually have the same name, characters, ect just one is a fierce drama while the other is a typical anime / comedy.) Trust and Betrayal is a very intense action anime dealing with the fall out of the Tokugawa era, and again the Shinsen Gumi. It is extremely deadly with quick paced fights, and a very tragic ending.

3 minutes ago, shosuko said:

I really like the low fantasy setting. Things are very gritty in these books - you really feel like anyone could die, and anyone dying would be tragic. It focuses a lot on the political plots, and the drama between characters of different positions. More action based items like Zato-Ichi are great too, but I typically gravitate towards the thrill of politics, and a kinda expose on the life of samurai when it comes to money and power.

I assume it was mentioned, but "7 Samurai" is probably the most legendary samurai film out there - it gathers very different sorts of samurai together to defend a village. If you know L5R it's kinda a fun game to place the different samurai into which clan you feel they come from if they were Rokugan.

and of course the bowel liquefying terror if the Shogun decides u have to go.

•sigh• i think it maybe tiime for another virtual trip to the library.

Just now, Kuni Katsuyoshi said:

and of course the bowel liquefying terror if the Shogun decides u have to go.

•sigh• i think it maybe tiime for another virtual trip to the library.

I think I love the L5R RPG more than the card game - because I can really enjoy the clans, the story, ect - with the focus where I want it. I am very excited to see in the newL5R how prominent honoring / dishonoring, and political warfare will be considering they have constructed it to be a more heavily incorporated event then it was in old5R.

13 minutes ago, shosuko said:

I think I love the L5R RPG more than the card game - because I can really enjoy the clans, the story, ect - with the focus where I want it. I am very excited to see in the newL5R how prominent honoring / dishonoring, and political warfare will be considering they have constructed it to be a more heavily incorporated event then it was in old5R.

ill get a core set, but strategy games arent my bag. What im really hoping 4 is a rpg announvent at gencon time.

Kazuo and Koike have another graphic masterpiece that needs mentioning Samurai Executioner.

also, virtual library jaunt a success ! I am looking forward to reading Bundori again.