As a huge fan of Utawarerumono, anything Ainu is instantly wholesome fun for me.
Oh and as for the female protagonist, in an Ainu version of the ancient myth of Yamata no Orochi and Susanoo, instead of the suitor of the appeasement sacrifice slaying the magical evil snake dragon, it's one such maiden selected as a sacrifice herself, Sitonai, and her dog/wolf that slay the serpent instead. So if you will pick a period heroine to be a samurai, having her be Ainu-adjacent is ideal because you can have the founding myth be of Sitonai to explain why the samurai's a girl. The sacrifices were always young too, in the 15 and under range, so maybe having this be a coming of age story in part would work well too.
Oh and Sitonai is totally a samurai, after finishing off the snake, she laments why all the other child sacrifices before her failed to do so, cause it was "just a snake". Talk about badass.
Oh and as for the female protagonist, in an Ainu version of the ancient myth of Yamata no Orochi and Susanoo, instead of the suitor of the appeasement sacrifice slaying the magical evil snake dragon, it's one such maiden selected as a sacrifice herself, Sitonai, and her dog/wolf that slay the serpent instead. So if you will pick a period heroine to be a samurai, having her be Ainu-adjacent is ideal because you can have the founding myth be of Sitonai to explain why the samurai's a girl. The sacrifices were always young too, in the 15 and under range, so maybe having this be a coming of age story in part would work well too.
Oh and Sitonai is totally a samurai, after finishing off the snake, she laments why all the other child sacrifices before her failed to do so, cause it was "just a snake". Talk about badass.