You guys have been asking for For Honor's Nobushi for over TWO YEARS now! So you know what? For my first Culture Shock of 2019, I'm going to make good on the promise I made back in 2017. Today we're breaking down the supremely BADASS Japanese origins behind Samurai's femme fatale, Nobushi!

Free to Play 3rd person shooter Warframe claims that "Ninja play Free". But based on the MANY requests made by YOU guys, I think it's time we look into the game, particularly the Ash Warframe, and see just how "ninja" these space shinobi are!

Afro Samurai is herald to African American culture in anime, and to this day is still one of the greats. And for Black History Month we wanted to break down the inspirations that make the series so unique. But there's far more to Japan's relationship with African people than culture. There was one man, a slave, that stood alongside the great unifier of Japan, Oda Nobunaga.

Spider-man has seen a HUGE resurgence as of late! And after Homecoming, Spiderman PS4, and with Far From Home coming fast, a LOT of people have asked whether or not our friendly neighborhood web-head is actually a ninja at his core. I didn't believe it, but boy was I wrong...

Pokemon Sword and Shield was an incredible surprise from Nintendo last week. Surprising more that the new Galar region is based on an upside down Britain! But just how accurate is the map? And what more can we learn about this new Pokemon world? You might be surprised at just how much a two minute trailer told!

At the turn of the 2000's Inuyasha stepped up and helped pave the way for anime in the U.S. and captured the hearts of people everywhere. Including myself! But looking back on the show as an adult and an analyst, I can't BELIEVE the cultural inspirations I missed! INCLUDING the two best bois themselves, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru and their connection to folklore yokai, inugami!

BOY I HOPE NO ONE CHECKS THE CALENDAR TODAY! After our video on Scorpion, a lot of you have requested we look into Sub Zero and the Lin Kuei connection to real life ninja history. Well, seems Mortal Kombat 11 gave us our answer in the bluntest way possible...

Ever since E3, we've been DYING to talk about Seiko, Shadows Die Twice. Everything from Sekiro's items, to his prosthetic tools, to even how he fights! But just how ninja IS the Lone Wolf? Do his items and gadgets reflect real life ninja? Or is the stab-happy Sekiro more samurai than shinobi?

Ever since the Power Ranger Which Ninja with Johnny Yong Bosch, we've had TONS of requests to cover the rest of the Ninja Sentai Kakurangers. But just how authentic are a group of chatty, color-coded, flashy "ninja" rangers compared to shinobi of history? Prepare to be surprised...

Yokai are EVERYWHERE in games and anime. Mario, Pokemon, Digimon, Animal Crossing, Pocky and Rocky, Inuyasha are ALL homes to these curious Japanese folklore creatures. But what ARE yokai? Where did they come from, and what do they mean to Japan. Today we're breaking down the FULL history of yokai for the soft launch of our new series, Yokai Watchers!

The anime GeGeGe no Kitaro has been absolutely SAVAGE when it comes to social commentary on YouTube and internet culture. But this one absolutely broke me. Through a yokai with an identity crisis, this anime broke down some of the biggest issues we YouTubers face.

On Which Ninja, we've looked at anime, movies, console and computer games... But today... We delve into the notorious world of visual novels to see if there is any sort of inspiration behind what are arguably some of the worst ninja to BOOT!

Sarazanmai is a deep anime about coming to terms with one's desires, secrets, and connecting relationships. BUT it also revolves around two of the most well known yokai of Japan. The Kappa and Kawauso. Today on Yokai Watchers we break down the lore behind these two folklore monsters to see what hints it can give us with Sarazanmai's insanely dense story!

Animal Crossing's Tom Nook has been called evil, greedy, and the worst capitalist in Nintendo's history. And now, he's in charge of Animal Crossings newest installation, New Horizons for the Switch. But what makes him so greedy? Let's look at his cultural inspiration to find out!

Final Fantasy 7's Yuffie has been the butt of many a ninja joke over the years since the games release. And with all the Final Fantasy 7 remake shown off at E3, a lot of you guys wanted to see just how bad a Shinobi Yuffie really is. ... But is she really so terrible?

The Fate series has no shortage of waifus of every shape and size. One of their most popular, Tamamo no Mae, seems like a kindhearted fox girl. But don't let her cute demenor fool you. Tamamo no Mae is pure evil, and the folklore behind her character tells us why!

With the release of Magic the Gathering's new set, Modern Horizons, ninja themed cards have returned to the grand daddy of all "children's card games". But what would you say if I told you that these high fantasy ninja were inspired by some of the oldest texts in this history of shinobi? ...Believe it!

Pokemon's Dunsparce is one of the oddest Pokemon I've researched. Love'm or hate'm for it, Dunsparce's appearance, moveset, and stats, make it one of the most illogical Pokemon to the community. But is Dunsparce so strange? Or is it's origin just shrouded in by another more mysterious creature of folklore?

The 2019 remake of Samurai Shodown heralds the return of one of gaming's most iconic ninja, Hattori Hanzo. But despite having the namesake of one of histories greatest shinobi, just how ninja IS Hanzo of Samurai Shodown? You might be surprised...

Demon Slayer has been an amazing ride of gorgeous visuals, driven characters, and the best imouto in anime, Nezuko. But there is far more to her and the rest of the anime's oni than you realize. An origin that dates back to 710 A.D. in Heian Period Japan...

Kami in Japan's Shinto religion have always been thought to be kind, benevolent, and giving. Turns out, they're actually a bunch of JERKS! Using Lord Arakawa from my favorite yokai themed RPG Onmyoji, let me show you how...

The Legend of Zelda, Link's Awakening had a LOT of weirdness to it. Featuring Goombas, Bloopers, Wart, and... Kirby? But the Mysterious Woods Raccoon screwed with my 10 year old brain the most. Little did I know that in 3 minutes of gameplay, I was introduced to EVERYTHING about Japan's most famous yokai...

Gaijin: *Fluffs tail* This fox girl can fit so much culture in it!

Think you know Promare and Fire Force? Come see the real life history behind these anime! The tough as nails, two-fisted peasant Edo fire fighting Hikeshi who fended the countries worst blazing disasters with their bare hands!

Halloween has been a thorn in Japan's side for a while, and the anime Gegege no Kitaro REALLY shows just how much the people disdain it. Is all this hate for the holiday justified? Or is there a bigger picture here?

A few months back, we looked into the folklore of Nezuko and Demon Slayer's concept of oni, but that was only the beginning! Today we're digging into every single antagonist oni and their own historical origins from Japan's early history!

With Pokemon Sword and Shield freshly released, I wanted to focus today's video on a gooey, goofy, fan favorite! Goodra and it's evolutionary line. While some claim it is the tyrannical French cryptid Lou Carcolh, I think it has an even GREATER cultural connection with one of Japan's oldest yokai monsters.

We all knew going in that Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Galar Region was little more than a mirrored UK. But where we have seen how Galar mirrors the UK geographically, what about it’s indigenous Pokemon? Today we’re breaking down the origins of our favorite Galar pokemon to see if Game Freak was truly inspired, or if they’re taking the mickey.

We're still riding the Pokemon Sword and Shield high with a breakdown of Sneasel and Weavile and their cultural origins with a well known weasel yokai in Japan!

Yes, I actually ate two year old ninja crackers for this one! It’s to prove the point that while anime and games like Naruto and Sekiro tend to present processed ninja food as some kind of magic medicine, it actually overshadows just how brilliant ninja were with their food on the go!