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The Legend of Kamui
The Legend of Kamui
The iconic series that launched the alt-manga bible GARO becomes available in English for the very first time.
At long last, manga titan Shirato Sanpei’s groundbreaking epic makes its way into English. Celebrated as a watershed of both the Japanese counterculture and dramatic, longform storytelling in manga, The Legend of Kamui serves up clashing swords and class struggle to create a timeless political allegory set in feudal Japan. This ten-volume series is a must-have for fans of samurai and ninja manga and anime, and of other giants of postwar manga like Tezuka Osamu, Mizuki Shigeru, Tsuge Yoshiharu, and Lone Wolf and Cub’s Kojima Goseki.
It’s the 17th century in Japan. Child outcast Kamui lives on the fringes of a miserably stratified society. Fueled by pure grit, rage, and a dash of cunning, his only way out is to take up the mantle of ninja. Follow scrappy peasants, cold-blooded ninja, and warriors both disgraced and exalted as they navigate the unforgiving hardships of a violent yet hopeful age. With its vivid and critical attention to social injustice and environmental issues against a backdrop of heart-pounding action and romance, this multilayered gekiga drama not only redefined ninja and samurai fantasy, it also offers astonishing parallels with the modern day.
Originally serialized between 1964 and 1971 in the legendary alt-manga magazine GARO, The Legend of Kamui is translated by social historian and decorated academic Richard Rubinger.
At long last, manga titan Shirato Sanpei’s groundbreaking epic makes its way into English. Celebrated as a watershed of both the Japanese counterculture and dramatic, longform storytelling in manga, The Legend of Kamui serves up clashing swords and class struggle to create a timeless political allegory set in feudal Japan. This ten-volume series is a must-have for fans of samurai and ninja manga and anime, and of other giants of postwar manga like Tezuka Osamu, Mizuki Shigeru, Tsuge Yoshiharu, and Lone Wolf and Cub’s Kojima Goseki.
It’s the 17th century in Japan. Child outcast Kamui lives on the fringes of a miserably stratified society. Fueled by pure grit, rage, and a dash of cunning, his only way out is to take up the mantle of ninja. Follow scrappy peasants, cold-blooded ninja, and warriors both disgraced and exalted as they navigate the unforgiving hardships of a violent yet hopeful age. With its vivid and critical attention to social injustice and environmental issues against a backdrop of heart-pounding action and romance, this multilayered gekiga drama not only redefined ninja and samurai fantasy, it also offers astonishing parallels with the modern day.
Originally serialized between 1964 and 1971 in the legendary alt-manga magazine GARO, The Legend of Kamui is translated by social historian and decorated academic Richard Rubinger.
600 pages, Paperback
First published January 14, 2025
14 people are currently reading
263 people want to read
About the author
Sanpei Shirato
114 books11 followersSanpei Shirato (白土三平) was born Noboru Okamoto in 1932, a son of well-known leftist painter and activist, Tōki Okamoto, who was active in organizing a proletarian art movement during the 1920s and 1930s. In wartime Japan, to avoid persecution from the authorities, the Okamoto family frequently moved around the country to different places including Kobe, Osaka, and some rural areas where young Shirato experienced poverty and came in contact with ethnic minorities and other discriminated groups (i.e., burakumin) as a child.
Shirato debuted in 1957 with his manga, Kogarashi kenshi. Although his earlier manga were aimed at children, some of them already exhibited social concerns, including social marginalization of ethnic minorities, the struggles of people in the lower class, the socially oppressive power structure–all of which became prevalent motifs in his works. Stylistically, his earlier manga in the late 1950s inherited the postwar mainstream manga style—which consists of Tezuka-inspired, simplistic cartoony depiction of characters with large eyes. His style gradually changed throughout the 1960s, as observed in the shift of visual style in Kamui-den.
Shirato debuted in 1957 with his manga, Kogarashi kenshi. Although his earlier manga were aimed at children, some of them already exhibited social concerns, including social marginalization of ethnic minorities, the struggles of people in the lower class, the socially oppressive power structure–all of which became prevalent motifs in his works. Stylistically, his earlier manga in the late 1950s inherited the postwar mainstream manga style—which consists of Tezuka-inspired, simplistic cartoony depiction of characters with large eyes. His style gradually changed throughout the 1960s, as observed in the shift of visual style in Kamui-den.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
March 25, 2025
This is not the same series that Eclipse Comics serialized in the 80s. They published the spin-off/sequel Kamui Gaiden but called it The Legend of Kamui... but Gaiden means side-story). This is the first series Kamui Den started in 1964 (Den ~ Legend). Damn you Eclipse for confusing me!
The art feels like the bridge between Tezuka and Lone Wolf and Cub's Goseki Kojima. This edition says that Kojima actually does assists. He must have done assists on Kamui Gaiden too since that looks way more like him than this does.
Here's hoping D+Q publishes the whole series including Gaiden. Absolutely punishing we've had to wait 60 years (!?) to get an English release.
The story is incredibly meandering, the first 500 pages are basically a prologue! It does paint a very vivid picture of life for all classes in Feudal Japan. Unlike most manga and movies I've read/seen, this doesn't just focus on cool samurai stuff. In fact, in depicting class struggles, it made me really despise the upper classes including samurai. Shirato Sanpei shows how the whole purpose of the upper classes was to keep the status quo any way they could. To prevent the lower classes from rising up, they divided them into different classes and kept them attacking and hating each other. The outcasts are hated by the farmers and so on.
The art feels like the bridge between Tezuka and Lone Wolf and Cub's Goseki Kojima. This edition says that Kojima actually does assists. He must have done assists on Kamui Gaiden too since that looks way more like him than this does.
Here's hoping D+Q publishes the whole series including Gaiden. Absolutely punishing we've had to wait 60 years (!?) to get an English release.
The story is incredibly meandering, the first 500 pages are basically a prologue! It does paint a very vivid picture of life for all classes in Feudal Japan. Unlike most manga and movies I've read/seen, this doesn't just focus on cool samurai stuff. In fact, in depicting class struggles, it made me really despise the upper classes including samurai. Shirato Sanpei shows how the whole purpose of the upper classes was to keep the status quo any way they could. To prevent the lower classes from rising up, they divided them into different classes and kept them attacking and hating each other. The outcasts are hated by the farmers and so on.
March 3, 2025
Drawn and Quarterly begins the monumental task of translating and collecting Kamui Den, the landmark manga from gekiga pioneer Noboru Okamoto ("Sanpei Shirato"). Serialized in Garo starting in 1964, Kamui was an expansive exploration of the feudal society of 17th-century Japan. Unburdened by a pressing need to get to the point, Kamui allows the world to come into its own. Opening to a lush foliage of an unfettered jungle setting, we follow animals existing in their natural ecosystem, hiding, scavenging and hunting their way for survival. Though it takes several pages for the first word (that word being "KAMUI!") to be uttered, the tone of Shirato's world comes into sharp focus easily. Whatever civilization plans on doing, it is in the end modeled after nature itself.
What follows are vignettes of a sort, all establishing the worldview of Kamui. The feudal culture was a brutal one, with a cruel hunting practice conducted on dogs and a violent execution by crucifixion depicted in its early chapters. The hierarchy of the feudal system is laid bare, with the over-taxed farmers and plebians held out at distance, though not as much as the actual outcasts - the hinen. Power structures lay in parallel to the animal food chain shown earlier (and throughout), delivering to the reader a somewhat nihilistic view of the world. But this blunt depiction serves to showcase the injustices and inequities of the system, one that can be challenged by emerging heroes. What follows in the last 100-200 pages of this hefty volume is an exploration of this clash against the default class structures, one that ends with a conclusion that I can't but help feel shocked by.
Kamui goes at a leisurely pace for sure, but Shirato does this by design. The story unfolds in loose vignettes, connecting together to visualize the rather apparent political worldview. Rarely does the story get wordy, with Shirato effectively utilizing visual storytelling throughout. Historical notes do pepper the pages throughout to provide the reader with more context of customs and traditions, which only serve to ground the panoramic exploration of feudal Japan further. It is the simple lines used by Shirato that do the job of distinguishing the story, allowing for the unconventional structure to unfold in a comprehensible and alluring fashion.
This volume (the first of ten ~600-page volumes) doesn't contain the usual extended reading material and contextual essays of previous D+Q manga translations (like the ongoing Yoshiharu Tsuge collections or the previous Yoshihiru Tatsumi books), but I'd argue this volume needs little else. Perhaps future volumes will include some backmatter, though for now, the conclusion of this first volume serves as enough of a hook to buy the second. The pleasing hand lettering of Michael DeForge was a welcome addition here, something I hope is retained throughout the remaining collections.
What follows are vignettes of a sort, all establishing the worldview of Kamui. The feudal culture was a brutal one, with a cruel hunting practice conducted on dogs and a violent execution by crucifixion depicted in its early chapters. The hierarchy of the feudal system is laid bare, with the over-taxed farmers and plebians held out at distance, though not as much as the actual outcasts - the hinen. Power structures lay in parallel to the animal food chain shown earlier (and throughout), delivering to the reader a somewhat nihilistic view of the world. But this blunt depiction serves to showcase the injustices and inequities of the system, one that can be challenged by emerging heroes. What follows in the last 100-200 pages of this hefty volume is an exploration of this clash against the default class structures, one that ends with a conclusion that I can't but help feel shocked by.
Kamui goes at a leisurely pace for sure, but Shirato does this by design. The story unfolds in loose vignettes, connecting together to visualize the rather apparent political worldview. Rarely does the story get wordy, with Shirato effectively utilizing visual storytelling throughout. Historical notes do pepper the pages throughout to provide the reader with more context of customs and traditions, which only serve to ground the panoramic exploration of feudal Japan further. It is the simple lines used by Shirato that do the job of distinguishing the story, allowing for the unconventional structure to unfold in a comprehensible and alluring fashion.
This volume (the first of ten ~600-page volumes) doesn't contain the usual extended reading material and contextual essays of previous D+Q manga translations (like the ongoing Yoshiharu Tsuge collections or the previous Yoshihiru Tatsumi books), but I'd argue this volume needs little else. Perhaps future volumes will include some backmatter, though for now, the conclusion of this first volume serves as enough of a hook to buy the second. The pleasing hand lettering of Michael DeForge was a welcome addition here, something I hope is retained throughout the remaining collections.
March 24, 2025
Hmm... Sehr sehr besondere Zeichnungen, aber ein durch die Überzahl an ähnlich aussehenden Charakteren eher konfuser Plot, der sich um Ungerechtigkeit dreht, die zu immer mehr Gewalt führt. Es gibt auf jeden Fall wenig Anlass zu Hoffnung, aber dann wieder doch, weil im Kontrast zu den Waldszenen in denen sich ein ständiges Fressen oder Gefressen werden abspielt, dem Autor wichtig zu sein scheint, die feudale Gesellschaft nicht zu naturalisieren. Es wird zumindest vom Autor eine klare Grenze gezogen zwischen einem ausgestoßenen weißen Wolf und den menschlichen Outcasts. Dadurch gibt es einen interessanten inneren Widerspruch. Einerseits ist laut der Geschichte Gewalt sehr natürlich, andererseits sind Klassenunterschiede es nicht. Für mich kam diese Philosophie nie ganz zusammen, oder es gibt zumindest noch offene Fragen, aber dadurch wird der Manga erst so richtig lesenswert (insofern man folgen kann). Und dann der letzte Absatz, in dem wieder alles als deterministisch deklariert wird, nachdem 600 Seiten lang das feudale System kritisiert wurde. Shirato Sanpei explain???! I am confusion
Nur drei Sterne weil das Lesen aus verschiedenen Gründen wirklich anstrengend war, aber es lohnt sich zumindest mal rein zu schauen. Offensichtlich musste ich länger drüber nachdenken.
Nur drei Sterne weil das Lesen aus verschiedenen Gründen wirklich anstrengend war, aber es lohnt sich zumindest mal rein zu schauen. Offensichtlich musste ich länger drüber nachdenken.
September 23, 2025
Extremely cool to read a samurai story, with real historical basis, by an obvious Marxist with clear intent to get his readers riled up. Will happily keep up with this as it gets reprinted.
January 10, 2026
Kaumi is a nonconformist, outsider, and wanderer. A youthful ninja who flees his clan, his entire world begins pursuing him and attempting to reclaim it’s honor. He’s imbued with training, but preternaturally wins a few fights and eludes captors. The world around him raises the stakes, as Sanpei chooses to focus vignettes into deep side characters which take on plots of their own:
“Forgive us…”
The spear was twisted once and pulled back out. This was repeated dozens of times. …
“Good job…” (95-97)
The grunt-samurai’s whisper to himself, “forgive us,” and the samurai leader’s curt instructions carry out make examples the traitors. These crucifixion-executions, including one of an infant alongside his family, are collective emotional peaks of Sanpei’s story. Apart from their active and visceral illustrations, those personalizations of the minor characters deepen the social elements of the story and instruct us in how all this poverty and terror is perpetuated. During the infant death scene, the samurai tasked with stabbing the condemned family is hated by the onlooking farmers– who don’t dare intervene. After the family is dead, the village outcasts drag the mother and infant through the farmer village, inciting additional hatred toward subjects who the fuming farmers know they are above, exhausting their ire on others. The ruling classes of 17th century Japan began with pressure from taxing rice, and then sowed a hatred among two underclasses to solidify a heavily stratified system.
Sanpei has his characters talk simply, and the asides for environmental stories let the story breathe even more– it’s a political novel of contemplation. The opening features a long aside for a wordless hare hunt in a canyon. The chase is of course Kaumi’s also, but does this mean Sanpei’s nature scenes are reflective of a hopeful utopia or a reflection of the ay the world is to be? Bounty and beauty juxtaposed with random viciousness; the eternal chase that is survival. Nature and civilization blur, too– the family capture scene, where they are made to sit outside in the lord’s courtyard, tied up, features slow, dense rain, sopping, soaking, muddy and puddly, bearing down.
“Measuring rice taxes is a crucial matter for farmers.”
“Just as sword fighting means life or death for you samurai,” (361).
Reading historical manga of this thickness can be like drinking out of a fire hose, but I’m always struck by the pace of the world-building. Sanpei is another example, with much of the technical information is presented at the opening of perspective shifts, making it easy to remember, with the following episode always creating some kind of mnemonic– with brutal violence, sometimes, yes, but also a juxtaposition of a quiet bewilderment or sprout of a relationship, despite the reality. Sanpei also gives you just enough history so it never feels like a lesson.
Why graphic novels continue to be stigmatized in K-12 academic settings is mind boggling, more so after you see such an accomplished version of a political novel like this. Kids read them like crazy and libraries are stuffed with this stuff. Kaumi’s depth and action lend credence to the idea we deserve these books and should demand them.
“Forgive us…”
The spear was twisted once and pulled back out. This was repeated dozens of times. …
“Good job…” (95-97)
The grunt-samurai’s whisper to himself, “forgive us,” and the samurai leader’s curt instructions carry out make examples the traitors. These crucifixion-executions, including one of an infant alongside his family, are collective emotional peaks of Sanpei’s story. Apart from their active and visceral illustrations, those personalizations of the minor characters deepen the social elements of the story and instruct us in how all this poverty and terror is perpetuated. During the infant death scene, the samurai tasked with stabbing the condemned family is hated by the onlooking farmers– who don’t dare intervene. After the family is dead, the village outcasts drag the mother and infant through the farmer village, inciting additional hatred toward subjects who the fuming farmers know they are above, exhausting their ire on others. The ruling classes of 17th century Japan began with pressure from taxing rice, and then sowed a hatred among two underclasses to solidify a heavily stratified system.
Sanpei has his characters talk simply, and the asides for environmental stories let the story breathe even more– it’s a political novel of contemplation. The opening features a long aside for a wordless hare hunt in a canyon. The chase is of course Kaumi’s also, but does this mean Sanpei’s nature scenes are reflective of a hopeful utopia or a reflection of the ay the world is to be? Bounty and beauty juxtaposed with random viciousness; the eternal chase that is survival. Nature and civilization blur, too– the family capture scene, where they are made to sit outside in the lord’s courtyard, tied up, features slow, dense rain, sopping, soaking, muddy and puddly, bearing down.
“Measuring rice taxes is a crucial matter for farmers.”
“Just as sword fighting means life or death for you samurai,” (361).
Reading historical manga of this thickness can be like drinking out of a fire hose, but I’m always struck by the pace of the world-building. Sanpei is another example, with much of the technical information is presented at the opening of perspective shifts, making it easy to remember, with the following episode always creating some kind of mnemonic– with brutal violence, sometimes, yes, but also a juxtaposition of a quiet bewilderment or sprout of a relationship, despite the reality. Sanpei also gives you just enough history so it never feels like a lesson.
Why graphic novels continue to be stigmatized in K-12 academic settings is mind boggling, more so after you see such an accomplished version of a political novel like this. Kids read them like crazy and libraries are stuffed with this stuff. Kaumi’s depth and action lend credence to the idea we deserve these books and should demand them.
February 16, 2025
Drawn & Quarterly’s English version of this 1960s political epic is a major publishing event. Jidaigeki are commonly set during the feudal Edo period, an era named for the military capital that would become Tokyo, and one which featured brutal oppression in a highly stratified society. Order is enforced by samurai armies, retained by landowners levying heavy taxes on a vast underclass of farmers. Shirato’s narrative focuses on divisions within these major class groups.
Kamui is an outcast, the lowest of the low. He is a gifted fighter, stoked by the injustices around him. Choosing to leave his clan is dangerous, and he is shunned and bullied by farmers, even the lowest of that group, the genin. Kamui’s protective spirit illuminates the unfairness around him, and he takes on a big brother role for orphans of suicides and stands up to bullying, sharpening his skills into pursuing vengeance against an impossible enemy. Other narratives cross his, such as that of the rebel leader Kichibei, or of Shosuke, a genin hopelessly in love with noble samurai Ryuoshin, or of the horrible fate of Omine, a farmer who fails to pay taxes.
Shirato passionately and clearly excoriates the way oppressive systems interrupt hopes and dreams and documents the way feudal lords encouraged division with ruthless public discipline. He’s strictly educational, not gratuitous. The sword fights (a jidaigeki staple) are desperate, gruesome, and uncinematic. Alleyway revenge battles, lurking assassins, mountain mob-chases, and dog hunts at the expense of peasant’s pets give way to an oppressive state violence that keeps everyone on edge. Crucifixions bookend the story, and they are active compared to those depicted in stories of the Roman Empire. A condemned infant, alongside its mother and grandfather, is killed in one, and later dragged through their own village. Outcasts do this dirty work, stoking the social divisions that keep the lower classes wary, divided, but bound for survival. In one scene, an outcast child is coerced into drinking urine in order to keep from starving.
This story is a monumental indictment of regimes of the past, present, and those contemporaneous to Shirato that seek to divide people, and we witness it alongside Kamui. Link to complete review: https://ysbookreviews.wordpress.com/2...
Kamui is an outcast, the lowest of the low. He is a gifted fighter, stoked by the injustices around him. Choosing to leave his clan is dangerous, and he is shunned and bullied by farmers, even the lowest of that group, the genin. Kamui’s protective spirit illuminates the unfairness around him, and he takes on a big brother role for orphans of suicides and stands up to bullying, sharpening his skills into pursuing vengeance against an impossible enemy. Other narratives cross his, such as that of the rebel leader Kichibei, or of Shosuke, a genin hopelessly in love with noble samurai Ryuoshin, or of the horrible fate of Omine, a farmer who fails to pay taxes.
Shirato passionately and clearly excoriates the way oppressive systems interrupt hopes and dreams and documents the way feudal lords encouraged division with ruthless public discipline. He’s strictly educational, not gratuitous. The sword fights (a jidaigeki staple) are desperate, gruesome, and uncinematic. Alleyway revenge battles, lurking assassins, mountain mob-chases, and dog hunts at the expense of peasant’s pets give way to an oppressive state violence that keeps everyone on edge. Crucifixions bookend the story, and they are active compared to those depicted in stories of the Roman Empire. A condemned infant, alongside its mother and grandfather, is killed in one, and later dragged through their own village. Outcasts do this dirty work, stoking the social divisions that keep the lower classes wary, divided, but bound for survival. In one scene, an outcast child is coerced into drinking urine in order to keep from starving.
This story is a monumental indictment of regimes of the past, present, and those contemporaneous to Shirato that seek to divide people, and we witness it alongside Kamui. Link to complete review: https://ysbookreviews.wordpress.com/2...
December 14, 2025
One thing I've come to appreciate is the level of storytelling depth within the traditional samurai novel. Last year, I read James Clavell's "Shogun," and I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to check out some of the tales that may have inspired it.
While "Shogun" deals with the leaders of various houses, Sanpei Shirato's "The Legend of Kamui" focuses instead on the lower classes, farmers and outcasts who struggle to find footing in society while being continually exploited by the upper classes of society. The message of equal rights is really on the nose on this one, but it goes to show that equal rights has long been a struggle of so many people for centuries in cultures all over the world.
I think the fondest surprise was at the beginning with so many chapters dedicated to the animal world. Honestly, I would reach a graphic novel just with animals and the tale of the white wolf.
And Kumai is an amazing, legendary hero, and every time he appears in the story, it feels meaningful.
AND I love any graphic novel that uses comic-style storytelling as means of education.
I think what brings this down for me is that it is LOADED with characters. Some people might find that appealing, and while certain characters and storylines feel appropriately fleshed out, I found it difficult to care for many of them. I understand the worldbuilding is necessary, but I feel like for a first volume, less would have been more.
Still, this was a solid read and definitely recommended for people who want to know where to begin with classic manga stories.
While "Shogun" deals with the leaders of various houses, Sanpei Shirato's "The Legend of Kamui" focuses instead on the lower classes, farmers and outcasts who struggle to find footing in society while being continually exploited by the upper classes of society. The message of equal rights is really on the nose on this one, but it goes to show that equal rights has long been a struggle of so many people for centuries in cultures all over the world.
I think the fondest surprise was at the beginning with so many chapters dedicated to the animal world. Honestly, I would reach a graphic novel just with animals and the tale of the white wolf.
And Kumai is an amazing, legendary hero, and every time he appears in the story, it feels meaningful.
AND I love any graphic novel that uses comic-style storytelling as means of education.
I think what brings this down for me is that it is LOADED with characters. Some people might find that appealing, and while certain characters and storylines feel appropriately fleshed out, I found it difficult to care for many of them. I understand the worldbuilding is necessary, but I feel like for a first volume, less would have been more.
Still, this was a solid read and definitely recommended for people who want to know where to begin with classic manga stories.
September 13, 2025
You get a sense when reading this that the series could turn into some really wonderful.
I know there are plans to release the whole series in 10 volumes, so this book is really just the beginning of a much larger world and cast of characters. It's hard to know what will come of it all, but it seems promising.
I like the class-based analysis and character development. I like the asides to follow the lives of animals and cycles of nature. There are textless pages of animal and human drama that serve as dramatic visual metaphors for themes in the story. And I like the historical context and extra information peppered in around the storyline. Not surprisingly, there aren't any well-developed female characters, which is too bad because literally half of the people in feudal Japan were women. It seems like a shame to leave so many interesting characters and insights into the social world on the table.
I hope that Sanpei was able to follow through with the grand potential of his ideas. And I hope Drawn an Quarterly manages the translation and distribution well. What a massive project. I'm looking forward to more.
I know there are plans to release the whole series in 10 volumes, so this book is really just the beginning of a much larger world and cast of characters. It's hard to know what will come of it all, but it seems promising.
I like the class-based analysis and character development. I like the asides to follow the lives of animals and cycles of nature. There are textless pages of animal and human drama that serve as dramatic visual metaphors for themes in the story. And I like the historical context and extra information peppered in around the storyline. Not surprisingly, there aren't any well-developed female characters, which is too bad because literally half of the people in feudal Japan were women. It seems like a shame to leave so many interesting characters and insights into the social world on the table.
I hope that Sanpei was able to follow through with the grand potential of his ideas. And I hope Drawn an Quarterly manages the translation and distribution well. What a massive project. I'm looking forward to more.
April 4, 2025
History, class struggle, and discrimination in feudal Japan. Originally serialized in the monthly gekiga magazine Garo between 1964 and 1971, Legend of Kamui tells the story of a young outcast as well as other characters struggling to survive. It’s a blend of adventure and social commentary with historical notes and comments from the author spread throughout. I loved the art, which is a mix of old school cartoony art in the Tezuka style and the more detailed modern style. The story is told at a very leisurely pace but the reader’s patience is rewarded as things gradually come together. As this is volume one of a planned ten volumes, the story is just getting started.
June 23, 2025
Shirato Sanpei’s feudal Japan tragedy showcases how the class stratification of the time period creates contradictions amongst the economy system. Resulting in manipulated inter-class conflicts by the ruling class. When I initially got into Manga, I read what was published by Viz Comics in the 80’s of Sanpei’s epic (I believe those publications were towards of the middle of this series). So it was interesting reading this from the beginning.
February 15, 2025
A brutal, unforgiving depiction of the feudal era in Japanese culture. This collection is both whimsically slow and frantically fast. Could be considered a history, economic and social reading as well. The author surely does not spare the reader and reveals a startling and disturbing account. The ending caused me to gasp. Stark, yet can’t wait to continue this journey.
Read
May 24, 2025Curious volume given the title character didn't get overly involved in the narrative until the fifth of six chapters capped by the way the volume ended. I'm in it for the long haul but younger me probably would have bailed early.
Read
October 10, 2025Detailed with some meandering backstory stuff that is interesting contextually (the chapter on wolves). The commentary in between chapters is interesting and provides a different perspective on samurai than I think most American audiences are used to seeing.
March 12, 2025
I have been waiting for this series to be translated in its entirety for almost 25 years now. One volume down, nine more to go.
May 25, 2025
The Tokugawa feudal order is starkly outlined and illustrated and the result is a volume of exceptional storytelling and mythmaking. Highly recommended.
August 5, 2025
just your average brutal Japanese storytelling
September 6, 2025
Unexpected ending. One of the most political graphic novels I’ve read.
November 5, 2025
A very entertaining sociological exploration of feudal 17th-century Japan.
December 1, 2025
Genuinely great - great art, great story and plenty of interesting contextual and historical info too. Excited to read volume two.
March 5, 2025
Score: 89
Art: 17/20
Story: 18/20
Characters: 17/20
World-building: 19/20
Writing: 18/20
Art: 17/20
Story: 18/20
Characters: 17/20
World-building: 19/20
Writing: 18/20
November 4, 2025
#the52bookclub Challenge #52 - Published in 2025
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews