Amidamaru
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Amidamaru (阿弥陀丸 Amidamaru) is a fictional character in the anime and manga Shaman King.
Amidamaru is the spirit ally of Yoh Asakura. Amidamaru, a samurai, died at the age of 24 during the Muromachi era of Japan (1334-1467). Always sticking by Yoh's side, he is loyal and trustworthy and can enter Yoh's sword through integration (spirit control in the English anime). Amidamaru is very powerful but quite taciturn and extremely devoted to "lord Yoh" ("Yō-dono" in Japanese).
His name is based on the Buddha Amitabha, the principal figure in the Pure Land Buddhist sect.
"Dono" is taken to mean "master" in the English translation of the anime though it is somewhat difficult to assign a strict definition or English equivalent to the Japanese word. In geisha society, it is translated as "patron"; the geisha's male benefactor.
Amidamaru was born on January 6 and is a Capricorn. His blood type was A.
He is voiced by Sean Schemmel in English.
Amidamaru's Past
Amidamaru was training to be a samurai when he was still very young in order to drive away bandits and protect the orphans he was living with. He always used to break his katana when he was young, so his very good friend Mosuke would always make him a new sword after scolding him for breaking another one of his swords. Amidamaru was an honorable samurai who refused to steal swords from the corpses and skeletons that were found scattered across the land.
Mosuke, being a very skilled swordsmith, was able to make a sword using his own father's knife. The sword cuts very well and Amidamaru was grateful for the sacrifice that Mosuke made, therefore he named the katana "Harusame", which means "Spring Rain"
When both Amidamaru and Mosuke grew older, they were employed by a daimyo who was impressed with Amidamaru's skills as a samurai and Mosuke's skills as a swordsmith.
They worked for him happily, but it did not last long. Amidamaru found out about their daimyo's greed when he asked him to kill Mosuke so that he won't make a sword which will better a sword made for him by Mosuke. Amidamaru was at a dilema because he owes unrequited loyalty to both the daimyo and his friend.
Amidamaru and Mosuke then met at the tree on Monument Hill where Amidamaru told Mosuke what the damiyo told him. At first Mosuke asked Amidamaru to just kill him because an order from a damiyo was an absolute order for a samurai. Amidamaru ,being loyal to Mosuke, told him to run away and that he would accept the crime. Mosuke asked him to give him the Harusame so he could fix it up and give it to him later that night. Amidamaru agreed and he gave Mosuke his oath that he would wait for him at that very spot. Sadly, someone spied on their conversation and informed the damiyo who ordered his men to kill Mosuke (which was done before they went to the hill). The men then went up the hill hoping to kill Amidamaru, but Amidamaru killed them all. ( him still alive, but exausted) He died of exaustion because he didn't have the better sword, Harusame. Amidamaru's numerous killing earned him a bad reputation which was carried all the way to the present time.
At least 550 years have passed and Amidamaru was first used by Yoh in a spirit integration (Spirit Fusion; Spirit Unity in the English anime) when "Wooden Sword" Ryu destroyed his tombstone. Yoh asked him to be his power spirit, but in that cemetery, he was waiting for a friend (which was Mosuke).
Yoh was able to find Mosuke inside a museum guarding the Harusame and crying over Amidamaru's loss. Yoh retured the Harusame to Amidamaru, telling him that Mosuke was waiting for him in the other side.
While Amidamaru was rising to the other world, he saw Yoh and his friend Manta being beaten up by Ryu, who was enraged because he was beaten by a mere teenager. Amidamaru decided to join Yoh and become his power spirit, and that was how they came to be friends. Yoh was the first one who trusted Amidamaru and didn't judge him based on his reputation in the past because he knew that there was always two sides to the story.
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