People of The Sengoku Period in Popular Culture - Sanada Yukimura

Sanada Yukimura

• Sanada Yukimura appears in numerous films, including the musical film Brave Records of the Sanada Clan (1963), where he is played by Minoru Chiaki of Seven Samurai fame as a rather ineffectual leader.
• Koei's Samurai Warriors series. Similar to Zhao Yun of the Dynasty Warriors series, Yukimura is the icon for Samurai Warriors and thus usually placed on the game manual/cover Perhaps because of this, in both games so far his lifespan and prominence have been greatly extended. In the first game, he was portrayed as Takeda Shingen's second-in-command even at the Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima - which occurred 6 years before he was born historically. In the second game, the extension is more modest, but he is still portrayed as a major Takeda officer at the Battle of Nagashino, when he would have been 8. Both games feature the Summer Siege of Osaka Castle as his last and most notable battle. In many character storylines and endings, he is killed in battle at Osaka Castle. In one of his SW endings, he, Kunoichi, Uesugi Kenshin, and Takeda Shingen unite the land. In his SW2 ending, he proves his strength to his friend Maeda Keiji, and he saves Naoe Kanetsugu. Together, they united the land in honor of Ishida Mitsunari. He is also in the spinoff called Samurai Warriors Katana. Throughout the games Yukimura had a somewhat romantic relationship with his bodyguard Kunoichi. In the related series Warriors Orochi he was tricked by Orochi into thinking that Zhao Yun and the other resistance were phantoms. After losing to Zhao Yun in a fight, he realized that he was deceived, and apologizing, compensated his error by joining forces with Zhao Yun to help rescue Liu Bei. In the sequel, he works with Shima Sakon and Zhang Jiao to save Naoe Kanetsugu. In Dream Mode, he works with Zhao Yun and Shimazu Yoshihiro in saving Liu Bei and peasants.
• Akimine Kamijyo's popular anime and manga series Samurai Deeper Kyo has Sanada as a main character. He is depicted as a lighthearted, beautiful trickster with a love of battle, wine, women, and almost supernatural prowess as a tactician.
• In Capcom's series Sengoku Basara he is traditionally one of the main characters. He serves under Takeda Shingen alongside Sarutobi Sasuke. He wields two yari spears. In Sengoku Basara 3 Yukimura becomes the commander of the Takeda forces after Shingen falls ill. Hoshi Soichiro provides Yukimura's voice in the games and anime and Mizuki Nana provides his voice in the Gakuen Basara anime. Kouhei Takeda plays him in the Live Action TV Drama.
• In the popular anime and manga series Prince of Tennis, Japan's #1 school Rikkai Daigoku's captain is named Seiichi Yukimura, and their vice-captain is named Genichiro Sanada. Likewise Echizen Ryoma who defeated the two forementioned players shares his last name with the commander whose troops killed Sanada Yukimura.
• Sanada Yukimura appears in his own anime called Sanada Juyushi Special (together with his brother Angelo Sanada), directed by Shimizu Keizo.
• Sanada Yukimura was portrayed by comedian Gino Jinnai in the movie Kamen Rider Den-O: I am Born!. His Braves also made a cameo in the movie.
• In the anime series Musashi Gundoh, the voice of Sanada Yukimura is played by Sayaka Kinoshita.
• In the manga series Tenjho Tenge, he appears during a flashback taking place days before the summer siege of Osaka castle.
• Sanada is one of the three playable characters in the videogame Vasara.
• Yukimura is one of the main characters in the manga series "Brave 10", drawn by Shimotsuki Marlin.