''Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword'' is a 2009

direct-to-DVD Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

martial arts film Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature numerous martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expres ...

, as well as the thirteenth entry in a series of direct-to-video animated films based upon the ''

Scooby-Doo ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American animation, animated media franchise based on an animated television series launched in 1969 and continued through several derivative List of Scooby-Doo media, media. Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the orig ...

Saturday morning cartoon "Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original animated series programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks. The genre's popularity had a br ...

franchise. In the United States, the DVD sold 163,890 units in its first week and as of January 2014, it has sold approximately 524,725 units. This is the last direct-to-video ''Scooby-Doo'' film to use the bright animation style keen to the ''

What's New, Scooby-Doo? ''What's New, Scooby-Doo?'' is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation for Kids' WB. It is the ninth incarnation of the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise that began with Hanna-Barbera's ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' and ...

'' TV series, making it the last ''What's New, Scooby-Doo?'' related production. It was also the last ''Scooby-Doo'' production to feature

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably '' American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice Nor ...

as the voice of

Shaggy Rogers Norville "Shaggy" Rogers is a fictional character and one of the main characters in the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise. He is generally depicted as an amateur detective, cowardly, lazy, and the long-time best friend of his equally cowardly dog, Sco ...

before his unofficial retirement in 2010 and subsequent death on June 15, 2014.

Plot

At a

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

museum of ancient history, Mr. Takagawa, the curator, and Kenji, a janitor, witness the resurrection of the evil Black

Samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

, an ancient Japanese warrior whose armor was to be the museum's newest exhibit. The next day, the

Mystery Inc. Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * Mystery (2012 film), ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama f ...

gang arrives in Tokyo, where

Daphne Daphne (; ; el, Δάφνη, , ), a minor figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater. There are several versions of the myth in whi ...

has been invited to participate in a

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

tournament at the prestigious Mirimoto Academy, run by Miss Mirimoto. The gang meet Daphne's friend Miyumi, who explains the difficulty of winning the tournament and entering the school as a student. After Daphne defeats Miss Mirimoto's bodyguard, Sojo, and almost defeats Miyumi, Mirimoto tells her she shows promise as a fighter. Also at the tournament is Mr. Takagawa, who warns Mirimoto that the Black Samurai has risen and will be after the Destiny Scroll, which is at the school. That night, during a feast, the Black Samurai and his

Ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

warriors attack the school and steal the scroll. However, Mirimoto explains the scroll was only a copy, and shows the gang the real one. Mr. Takagawa explains to the gang that the Black Samurai was an ancient warrior who asked the renowned swordsmith

Masamune , was a medieval Japanese blacksmith widely acclaimed as Japan's greatest swordsmith. He created swords and daggers, known in Japanese as ''tachi'' and ''tantō'', in the ''Sōshū'' school. However, many of his forged ''tachi'' were made into ...

to craft a sword of great mystical power; Masamune agreed, but stated that the process would take a whole year. Masamune's evil apprentice

Muramasa , commonly known as , was a famous swordsmith who founded the Muramasa school and lived during the Muromachi period (14th to 16th centuries) in Kuwana, Ise Province, Japan (current Kuwana, Mie).Fukunaga, 1993. vol. 5, pp. 166–167. In spite o ...

offered to make another sword in only half the time, which the Samurai accepted. However, Muramasa's evil nature passed into the blade, and when the Samurai took the sword, he was infected with the evil and transformed into the Black Samurai, wielding the Sword of Doom. When Masamune finished crafting his sword, the Sword of Fate, he presented it to the legendary Green Dragon. After a long battle in the sky, the Green Dragon defeated the Black Samurai and imprisoned him in the Sword of Doom. The Dragon then hid the Sword of Doom and marked its whereabouts within a riddle written on the Destiny Scroll.

Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer * Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse * Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspor ...

and

unconsciously solve the riddle, and Mirimoto dispatches the gang, Miyumi and Mr. Takagawa to find the Sword of Doom before the Samurai. The gang finds the sword in a cave on an island in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, where they deal with a tribe living on the island and are attacked by the Black Samurai. During the fight, the Black Samurai is revealed to be Sojo. The gang brings Sojo back to Mirimoto, but she and Miyumi capture them. Mirimoto explains that she staged the tournament to bring Mystery, Inc. to Japan so that they would find the Sword of Doom for her, and that she intends to use the Black Samurai to return Japan to the way it was in

feudal times Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...

. The ninja army is revealed to be made up of

robots "\n\n\n\n\nThe robots exclusion standard, also known as the robots exclusion protocol or simply robots.txt, is a standard used by websites to indicate to visiting web crawlers and other web robots which portions of the site they are allowed to visi ...

, in which are equipped with the various fighting techniques of her students, including Daphne's. She then locks

Fred Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico Ro ...

, Daphne, Velma and Mr. Takagawa in the museum, but not before Daphne kicks the Sword of Doom from Mirimoto's hand into Scooby and Shaggy's possession. Scooby and Shaggy manage to escape with the blade, but are chased by the ninja robots. They are saved by Matsuhiro, a sushi shop owner and Samurai, but the ninjas manage to reclaim the sword. Matsuhiro, who is aware of the legend, agrees to train Scooby and Shaggy as Samurai. He instructs them to pass through the gates of Earth, Wind, Fire and Water in order to find the Green Dragon and the Sword of Fate. After doing so, they find the Green Dragon, who takes them back to the museum to combat the Black Samurai. Kenji inadvertently frees Fred, Daphne, Velma and Mr. Takagawa, and they, with the aid of a repentant Miyumi, attempt to stop Sojo and Mirimoto from resurrecting the Black Samurai, but their plan fails and they are captured. After reviving the Black Samurai, Mirimoto tries to make him her servant, but the villain has no interest in her vision and knocks her out. Scooby and Shaggy arrive riding the Green Dragon and, with encouragement from Matsuhiro, Scooby uses the Sword of Fate to destroy the Sword of Doom; this breaks the Black Samurai's curse and renders him mortal once again. The grateful Samurai thanks the gang for freeing him before passing on to the afterlife. The gang later attends the newly renovated museum, where a statue of Scooby is erected in honor of him protecting Japan and the world.

Voice cast

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

, Fred Jones, Kerry Kilpatrick, and Mad Dog Masimoto *

Mindy Cohn Mindy Cohn (born May 20, 1966) is an American actress, who appeared on VH1's List of "100 Greatest Kid Stars". She starred as Natalie Green in the sitcom '' The Facts of Life'' from 1979 to 1988, and is known for voicing Velma Dinkley in the ''S ...

Velma Dinkley Velma Dinkley is a fictional character in the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise. She is usually seen wearing a baggy orange turtleneck sweater, a short pink pleated skirt (or in later episodes an A-line skirt, or sometimes shorts), knee socks, Mary Jane ...

Grey DeLisle Grey DeLisle (; born Erin Grey Van Oosbree; August 24, 1973), sometimes credited as Grey Griffin, is an American voice actress, comedian and singer-songwriter. DeLisle is known for various roles in animated productions and video games. On Sept ...

Daphne Blake Daphne Blake is a fictional character in the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise. Daphne, depicted as coming from a wealthy family, is noted for her beauty, orange hair, lavender heels, fashion sense, and her knack for getting into danger, hence the nick ...

, Sapphire Sonja *

Kelly Hu Kelly Ann Hu (born February 13, 1968 ) is an American actress, voice artist, former fashion model and beauty queen who was Miss Teen USA 1985 and Miss Hawaii USA 1993. Hu starred as Dr. Rae Chang on the American television soap opera '' Sunset ...

as Miyumi, Miss Mirimoto * Sab Shimono as Mr. Takagawa *

Keone Young Keone Joseph Young is an American actor. He is best known for his television roles as Dr. Michael Kwan in '' Kay O'Brien'' (1986), Mr. Wu in '' Deadwood'' (2004–2006) and as the dual roles of Judge Robert Chong and Mr. Wan in ''The Young and t ...

as Matsuhiro * Kevin Michael Richardson as Sojo / The Black Samurai *

Gedde Watanabe Gary "Gedde" Watanabe (born June 26, 1955) is an American actor and comedian. He is perhaps best known for voicing the character of Ling in the 1998 animated film '' Mulan'' and its 2004 sequel '' Mulan II'', as well as playing Long Duk Dong in t ...

as Kenji *

George Takei George Takei (; ja, ジョージ・タケイ; born Hosato Takei (武井穂郷), April 20, 1937) is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the fictional starship USS ''Enterprise'' in the televi ...

as Old Man Samurai * Brian Cox as The Green Dragon

References

External links

* {{Warner Bros. animation and comics 2009 films 2009 animated films 2009 direct-to-video films 2000s American animated films American mystery films Films set in Japan Films set in Tokyo Warner Bros. Animation animated films Warner Bros. direct-to-video animated films Samurai films Scooby-Doo direct-to-video animated films American children's animated comedy films American children's animated mystery films Japan in non-Japanese culture 2000s children's animated films 2000s English-language films