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Ichigeki #1
いちげき 1
初めて剣を握った農民たちが、雲の上の存在だった武士相手に挑む、時代劇の「リアル」がここに！
時は幕末………大政奉還後、江戸幕府との武力決着を望む薩摩藩は幕府を挑発すべく、江戸にたむろする浪士たちをかき集めて「御用盗」なる武装集団を結成、「攘夷のための資金提供」を名目に夜な夜な江戸の商家を襲わせていた。
そのころ、江戸近郊の村々から百姓たちを集めた「選抜試験」が行われ各村から力自慢で有名な猛者たちが集結していた。
選抜試験を仕切る侍たちの狙いは？選抜試験後に待っているものは？
時は幕末………大政奉還後、江戸幕府との武力決着を望む薩摩藩は幕府を挑発すべく、江戸にたむろする浪士たちをかき集めて「御用盗」なる武装集団を結成、「攘夷のための資金提供」を名目に夜な夜な江戸の商家を襲わせていた。
そのころ、江戸近郊の村々から百姓たちを集めた「選抜試験」が行われ各村から力自慢で有名な猛者たちが集結していた。
選抜試験を仕切る侍たちの狙いは？選抜試験後に待っているものは？
- GenresManga
224 pages, Paperback
First published November 30, 2016
2 people are currently reading
10 people want to read
About the author
Jiro Matsumoto
43 books36 followersJiro Matsumoto (Japanese name: 松本次郎) is a Japanese manga artist most known for his work on Freesia. Much of his manga is explicit in nature, frequently containing copious amounts of sex and violence. His debut work, story called "Little Feet", was a quasi-winner in '92's Tetsuya Chiba Prize.
He has a transgender sister, who's also a mangaka, Matsumoto Taro.
He has a transgender sister, who's also a mangaka, Matsumoto Taro.
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 10, 2025
This review is for the entire series.
I really enjoyed this series. It's a raw and violent story with an ending that leaves a bit to be desired. The quality of the art is a bit lackluster and caused me to get lost in the paneling at some points. The artwork does eventually improve though!
If you like "Vagabond," you'll probably find something here that'll keep your attention.
I really enjoyed this series. It's a raw and violent story with an ending that leaves a bit to be desired. The quality of the art is a bit lackluster and caused me to get lost in the paneling at some points. The artwork does eventually improve though!
If you like "Vagabond," you'll probably find something here that'll keep your attention.
April 11, 2025
A kino series that starts great, continues to be great, almost has a really solid ending, then flounders it in the back-end but not enough to really warrant knocking it below four stars.
A very solid recommendation, full review to come in the following days.
Oh hey, I almost forgot to actually review this! I'm operating like a month after penning the promise to write a more fleshed out review so sorry if I mess up a couple of details here and there, it's been a while.
Ichigeki is a historical action drama set in the midst of the Bakumatsu period, the twilight era of the Samurai and the class system that Japan was infamous for. It follows a gang of peasants from one of the villages in Edo who are recruited to form an anti-terrorism squad called the 'one hit, one kill' squad, essentially picked out for their physical potential and to operate as a cost-effective source of cannon fodder to clean up the streets of Edo, Japan's capital city, which is currently under frequent and constant assaults from gangs of a Samurai clan who are upset by Japan's slowly opening borders and the encroaching of new ideals and political systems.
Naturally, becoming a Samurai is a pretty enticing prospect for peasants who've never been beyond the borders of their little village, and only the protagonist is really intelligent enough to peer beyond the veil of the intentional subterfuge of the upper classes that have recruited them to understand that their true purpose is to, essentially, get killed.
What follows is a violently intense and brutal romp through a disgustingly hellish conflict amidst the streets of Edo. It's one of those stories where a happy ending feels like it's always within reach, but the characters, dumb peasants and samurai alike, will almost always steer away from at the last second in a way that is endlessly frustrating but also understandably human.
Nobody is safe in this manga. Whenever it feels like there is a spot of hope, it takes great pains to remind you that damn near everybody is one bad step away from getting their head chopped off, and even when the peasants you've come to respect get a big win under their belt, they're still up shit creek without a paddle.
Artistically, the manga looks pretty great. I like it when mangakas approach their stories with a slightly more realistic art-style, far cries from the doe-eyed blob children of what you commonly see, but still distinctly Japanese and aesthetically pleasing. You know, so long as it's not depicting something horrifying and brutal.
I imagine mileage will vary somewhat, however, as the manga can flip-flop from very detailed to a bit more sketchy as the moment calls for it. I personally really enjoyed the way the manga depicted the speed and brutality of its sword combat. Often eschewing extreme detail in favor of sketchy speedlines or implied movement, it conveys a sense that the reader is barely keeping up with the moves of its characters. One moment you'll be staring at a page, and the next the characters will be cutting each other up and you'll have barely had time to keep up. It really does a great job of depicting how dangerous and deadly sword combat is within the manga itself, and has a tendency to make your butthole clench when the fights begin, since you know that there's a heavy chance somebody is going to die within the next couple of panels.
My only real complaint with this manga, like many before it, is that the ending feels rather truncated and not at all satisfying. And I don't really mean that in a good way, either. While the central conflicts between the protagonist, Uchigorou and his chief antagonist are settled come the end of the manga, it becomes clear that the mangaka didn't really know any way to tie a bow on this plot in a way that felt entirely satisfying. There's a flashback that feels like a bit of retroactive character development, there's some hinting at a grander conspiracy that leads nowhere, and the fate of the survivors is left a bit too vague for my tastes.
But, if you have a high tolerance for blood, gore, and human suffering where almost no taboo subject is off-limits, you'll probably enjoy this sordid tale of peasants and samurai.
A very solid recommendation, full review to come in the following days.
Oh hey, I almost forgot to actually review this! I'm operating like a month after penning the promise to write a more fleshed out review so sorry if I mess up a couple of details here and there, it's been a while.
Ichigeki is a historical action drama set in the midst of the Bakumatsu period, the twilight era of the Samurai and the class system that Japan was infamous for. It follows a gang of peasants from one of the villages in Edo who are recruited to form an anti-terrorism squad called the 'one hit, one kill' squad, essentially picked out for their physical potential and to operate as a cost-effective source of cannon fodder to clean up the streets of Edo, Japan's capital city, which is currently under frequent and constant assaults from gangs of a Samurai clan who are upset by Japan's slowly opening borders and the encroaching of new ideals and political systems.
Naturally, becoming a Samurai is a pretty enticing prospect for peasants who've never been beyond the borders of their little village, and only the protagonist is really intelligent enough to peer beyond the veil of the intentional subterfuge of the upper classes that have recruited them to understand that their true purpose is to, essentially, get killed.
What follows is a violently intense and brutal romp through a disgustingly hellish conflict amidst the streets of Edo. It's one of those stories where a happy ending feels like it's always within reach, but the characters, dumb peasants and samurai alike, will almost always steer away from at the last second in a way that is endlessly frustrating but also understandably human.
Nobody is safe in this manga. Whenever it feels like there is a spot of hope, it takes great pains to remind you that damn near everybody is one bad step away from getting their head chopped off, and even when the peasants you've come to respect get a big win under their belt, they're still up shit creek without a paddle.
Artistically, the manga looks pretty great. I like it when mangakas approach their stories with a slightly more realistic art-style, far cries from the doe-eyed blob children of what you commonly see, but still distinctly Japanese and aesthetically pleasing. You know, so long as it's not depicting something horrifying and brutal.
I imagine mileage will vary somewhat, however, as the manga can flip-flop from very detailed to a bit more sketchy as the moment calls for it. I personally really enjoyed the way the manga depicted the speed and brutality of its sword combat. Often eschewing extreme detail in favor of sketchy speedlines or implied movement, it conveys a sense that the reader is barely keeping up with the moves of its characters. One moment you'll be staring at a page, and the next the characters will be cutting each other up and you'll have barely had time to keep up. It really does a great job of depicting how dangerous and deadly sword combat is within the manga itself, and has a tendency to make your butthole clench when the fights begin, since you know that there's a heavy chance somebody is going to die within the next couple of panels.
My only real complaint with this manga, like many before it, is that the ending feels rather truncated and not at all satisfying. And I don't really mean that in a good way, either. While the central conflicts between the protagonist, Uchigorou and his chief antagonist are settled come the end of the manga, it becomes clear that the mangaka didn't really know any way to tie a bow on this plot in a way that felt entirely satisfying. There's a flashback that feels like a bit of retroactive character development, there's some hinting at a grander conspiracy that leads nowhere, and the fate of the survivors is left a bit too vague for my tastes.
But, if you have a high tolerance for blood, gore, and human suffering where almost no taboo subject is off-limits, you'll probably enjoy this sordid tale of peasants and samurai.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews