Samurai Executioner, Vol. 7: The Bamboo Splitter

首斬り朝 [Kubikiri Asa] #7

by Kazuo Koike, Goseki Kojima (Illustrator)

As Samurai Executioner continues moving into its own world of crime and punishment, honor and bushido, we are beginning to learn more about the characters and situations involved in Edo-era justice. We're learning about Kubikiri Asa, the Shogun's decapitator, and his stoic life. This man's joyless existence is backed by stories of his past as a child, and how they reflect on his current day. But we also learn more about the peace officers of the era. In particular, there's the character "Catcher Kasajiro," the charming young man who uses a hooked rope and chained cudgel with such great skill. With these two characters, one with the guilt of many generations, and one bearing the naivete of a young buck, bring an odd sort of tenderness to a world of pain, death, and quirky kink.

Genres: Manga, Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Japan, Historical

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Kazuo Koike (小池一夫, Koike Kazuo) was a prolific Japanese manga writer, novelist and entrepreneur.

Early in Koike's career, he studied under Golgo 13 creator Takao Saito and served as a writer on the series.

Koike, along with artist Goseki Kojima, made the manga Kozure Okami (Lone Wolf and Cub), and Koike also contributed to the scripts for the 1970s film adaptations of the series, which starred famous Japanese actor Tomisaburo Wakayama. Koike and Kojima became known as the "Golden Duo" because of the success of Lone Wolf and Cub.

Another series written by Koike, Crying Freeman, which was illustrated by Ryoichi Ikegami, was adapted into a 1995 live-action film by French director Christophe Gans.

Kazuo Koike started the Gekika Sonjuku, a college course meant to teach people how to be mangaka.

In addition to his more violent, action-oriented manga, Koike, an avid golfer, has also written golf manga.

Reviews

[Jedi JC Daquis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Samurai Executioner as a sort of break in the insanity happening in Lone Wolf and Cub as Yamada Asaemon shines with morality and good heart just as Itto Ogami brutally kills his contracts. This cycle of few "Lone Wolf volumes then Executioner" kept the goodness and evil balanced.

Until this volume.

Samurai Executioner volume 7 is a shocker. Yes, even from me who got used to literary violence. It is sick and cruel. Yet the surprising visuals felt necessary and not just there for shock element. But I just can't believe it. I can't believe that Kazuo Koike would go this far.

And the drawings, oh man, Kojima' art is so "in your face" that you have to go through all, reading each panel as the story unfolds.

Volume 7 is still brilliant. Yes, sick but still brilliant.

[Alex Sarll]

Lone Wolf & Cub could get repetitive in places, but nothing like so much as this spin-off, which at times feels as formulaic as old US drama. One story about Asaemon adding some thoughtful extra touch to make a criminal's passing easier is moving; by the third, it just seems like workplace displacement activity. But then every so often you get stuff like the title story here; an ingenious mystery leading into a terrifying tale of injustice, depravity, torture and murder. And suddenly you forgive the intervening fluff, because no series could operate at that pitch all the time.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series continues to be an excellent reading experience. The first two tales are poignant, even moving at times, showing that the executioner can show mercy at times. The title story of the Bamboo Splitter was quite a mystery, well worth reading. The series is not for the faint of heart, but if you like your tales with adventure, violence, and some gritty sex, then this is for you. I will certainly continue reading on the rest of the series.

[Geoff Sebesta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was weirdly more misogynist than the rest of them, which are admittedly more than a little odd.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Samurai are a big staple of manga comics, but nobody does samurai better than Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima. The pair are most famous for their 8400 (give or take a few) page samurai epic Lone Wolf & Cub. After completing the saga of Ogami Itto and his son, they embarked on a slightly less ambitious series, spinning an extremely minor LW&C character, Yamada Asaemon, the Shoguns decapitator and sword tester, off into his own 3000-page saga.

However, Samurai Executioner takes a different tact than its predecessor. Rather than spinning one gargantuan epic of family, honor and revenge, Samurai Executioner essentially limits itself to a continuing series of nearly unrelated short stories. The focus, thus, becomes less on Asaemon's journey and more on the political, social and criminal strata of Edo-period Japanese history. The depth of research that Koike has done is truly astounding, reflecting in the impeccable detail of Kojimas illustrations and the intriguing scenarios that continually face Asaemon.

Short tales focus on the sense of honor that even the lowest criminal can feel. Longer stories, such as Volume 6's Gobari Sandosu, examine the political make-up of Edo by putting Asaemon in conflict with what are effectively the unions that run the city's daily functions. Through it all, Asaemon behaves with total honor and responsibility for his duties as decapitator. Asaemon is often just a bit player in many stories, as Koike prefers to tell stories about the history and culture of his homeland. However, Koike still takes some time to prevent Asaemon from becoming a complete cipher, delving into the manner by which citizens avoid contact with the dreaded executioner and his cursed status in Edo. When Asaemon steps to the side (usually to show up at the tales end with a final sword stroke or to offer words of wisdom), one of his few friends, Jitte man (in modern English, cop) Sakane Kasajiro, steps to the front to showcase the police methods of ancient Japan. Kasajiro offers a different view of the time period, that of a younger man finding his place in a regimented world. Among other things, he learns the limits of his favored fighting technique, marries (a most unlikely bride whom he doesnt treat very well, which may be a signifier of the times or perhaps just an unsavory character trait) and solves mind-scrambling crimes.

Artist Goseki Kojima has his limitations. He only has 4 or 5 stock people, and everybody starts to look a like after a while, but nobody I mean nobody lays out a scene more cinematically or creates more believable backgrounds. Each building has a physical weight on the page, and the reader can feel the wind blowing out of the book when Kojimas landscapes come to the fore. His brushstrokes perfectly capture the organic feel of Edo. Plus, let's be honest, his action scenes kick ass.

Samurai Executioner is a violent, sexual series. Whether that is a negative or a positive, I leave up the reader, but it should be noted that Koike and Kojima pulls absolutely no punches when showing the depth to which some criminals will sink. Some criminals inspire sympathy due to their circumstances, and some are amoral monsters. In any case, Decapitator Asaemon is waiting at the end of the line, and I strongly encourage any curious reader to be there as well.

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since the previous volume, the stories are hit and miss. The creator must be running out of ideas. Still, the stories that hit home are good enough to warrant 5 stars.

Yamada isn't welcome in the local festivals. His karma would ruin everyone's fun, supposedly. He has been missing these events since childhood when he chanced upon a mask used by the kids during some festival event. He isn't the only one deprived of festivals. An exiled man on death row begs to see the festival one last time. Yamada can't grant him his request, but gives him the mask he has kept safely for years. It brings tears of joy to the sentenced man, making his execution a lot more humane.

Yamada does something similar to a performer. He allows the performer to tell one last story, to relax and forget his predicament. During the height of laughter from the witnesses and Yamada himself, the man is executed with a smile on his face. He dedicates time to understand the crazy old woman on death row. Her crazyness is an act, but it makes the prison employees fear her. Yamada not only reaches an understanding with her, but gives her closure. She walks unattended to the chopping block.

Women sure are strong in these tales. Kasajiro's wife captures a woman who has been killing people and stealing their belongings in the dead of night. Kasajiro got to her first, but her skill with a dagger was more than he can handle. His wife, though, kicks her behind much more effectively. The police arrest her and torture her. Eventually, she reveals her traumatic past and ends up beheaded.

[Leah Coffin · Rating 2 out of 5]

My least favorite volume thus far. Gratuitous torture porn clearly meant as fanservice. And for the love of God, do not tell me about a man being principled if he thinks it's a-okay to go Jack Bauer on a suspect.

[Sonic · Rating 5 out of 5]

We hear the concept bandied about of comics as literature, ... whether this is manga or comics, it is in my opinion also Literature.
I use the term here to denote stories of high quality because they have the potential to affect the reader more deeply.

[Nick Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Hugo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last 2 stories of the volume, that give the volume it's name are especially good.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great graphics as usual, and a diverting, but maybe even historical plot line.

[Víctor Segovia · Rating 4 out of 5]

simplemente genial, así de sencilla serán las cosas con esta entrega de la serie, aunque debo decir que si bien las historias que la conformaron son bastante buenas; hay algo que me ha estado molestando un poco. Es el hecho de que aún no hace gala un hilo argumental que sirva para darle un final o un acercamiento a un cierre en todo lo que he leido hasta ahora de la obra.

[Víctor Blanco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uno de mis tomos favoritos, por la historia de Kanske, la rompe-cañas

[Kaitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10