Centaurs, Volume 1

Jimba #1

by Ryo Sumiyoshi

An epic fantasy adventure set in an alternate medieval Japan, where humans co-exist with the mythic half man/half horse beasts known as centaurs, or "jinba". The centaur race were long revered as deities in ancient times; however, with the advent of the sengoku (warring states) period, humans started to enslave and use them for military purposes due to their speed, stamina, and ability to communicate in human language. Centaurs living in the plains were rapidly subjugated; in contrast, large numbers of centaurs living deep in the mountains were still free due to their relative isolation.

A wild and proud samurai jinba from the mountains named Matsukaze, known as the redheaded rock tiger, is caught while protecting his son. He is traded to a feudal lord, and taken to his land. There he meets another centaur, named Kohibari, whose village was burned down as a child. He is a tame centaur, who had his arms amputated when he was captured, and has given up hope of escaping his human captors. If they can get over their differences and work together, they just might be able to return to the wilds as free centaurs.

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

180 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 15, 2017

About the author

Standard Latin transliteration of 墨佳遼.

Ryo Sumiyoshi was born in Tohoku, grew up in Kanto, now currently resides in Nara.

After graduating in 2007 he got a job with Capcom, where he was responsible mainly for modelling as a 3D modeler. During his time at Capcom he worked on Monster Hunter 3, Monster Hunter 4 & Monster Hunter X.

Sumiyoshi went freelance in 2015, and is currently drawing illustrations and manga, mainly for solo and group exhibitions.

Other variants and transliterations of his name include:
Ryou Sumiyoshi
Ryo Suzuri
Ryou Suzuri
すずり りょう

Reviews

[Fenriz Angelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Centaurs is Ryo Sumiyoshi's first manga story. It's set in an alternate feudal Japan where centaurs exists and they co-exist (or used to) peacefully with humans until the humans turned on them and started to enslave them for military purposes.

There's two type of centaurs, the ones who live in the mountains and the ones who lived in the plains, the latter were the ones who suffered the most from human's enslavement whereas the former hid deep in the mountains.

So the story begins with Matsukaze, a redheaded mountain centaur, and his son getting attacked by some humans. Matsukaze sacrifices himself in order to his son be able to scape from the attack. In the attack Matsukaze meets another centaur, who was tamed and his arms amputated since he's little. Little did Martsukaze knew, that such meek centaur would have ulterior motives.

Thus far this is a manga that promises an exploration of the darkest side on human nature and the resilience of a subyugated species that ultimately will fight for their freedom. Despite the heavy theme there's many moments of comedic relief.

[Robert Pierson · Rating 4 out of 5]

They are working this is really good it’s a very brutal story in a lot of ways and it How cruel world can be and when people abuse their power and don’t have respect for other living things I’m actually looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

[Niche · Rating 1 out of 5]

Set in an alternate history/fantasy world where humans and centaurs live. The races previously had a harmonious relationship, but the warring humans soon realized the military potential of centaur and try to capture and enslave them. Unruly centaur have their arms amputated.

The story follows a free centaur that is captured trying to protect a young centaur and is recruited by an enslaved centaur to help break free. They are then pursued.

This is not lighthearted fair as it involves a lot of slavery and abuse. The world building seemed developed enough to make for an interesting setting, but the story, or rather the content, was too much of a deal-breaker for me. It was pretty dour and depressing and I really didn't need the molestation/sex scene.

[booksbyjeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover immediately caught my attention on this one. It reminded me of a Lynel from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which is such an awe-inspiring and mysterious beast.

The artwork and story is by af ormer Capcom artist Ryo Sumiyoshi. He has a distinctive style that really stands out and I think really captures the aura of the magnificent centaurs . The story itself is surprisingly dark, following humans who hunt, enslave, and exploit the centaurs. Grr…

I liked this one quite a bit. My biggest criticism would be that it does seem to incorporate a bit tonal whiplash. One moment it’s dealing with genuinely disturbing subject matter like sexual exploitation, and then a few panels later it might switch to chibi-style comedy. Personally, I don’t think the humour really fits the tone? I’d probably prefer if it committed fully to one lane.

That said, the series is complete at six volumes, all available on Hoopla, so I definitely plan on reading the rest.

[AP · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

Update: Read the 3 available volumes from my library. Story is decent and somewhat interesting concept and somewhat hardbreaking and I am saying that as I was somewhat on the fence about this series. But it also has a few awkward moments along the way. The first arc, if you can call it that is a tad too rushed. I won't spoil what happens, but it feels like you go from a and suddenly end up with z in the two first volumes just to get to the plotpoint in volume 3.
I would have liked to continue the story if my library had the other couple of published volumes. But since I'm not 100% certain on this series, I'm not going to go out and buy vol. 4-6 (I think 6 is out in english as well at the time I'm writing this!).

[Zaferino · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is amazing for this book. I admire how well the artist drew the anatomy of both horses and people, then combined the two. The expressions were also very dramatic, which I enjoy. There was a good mix between realistic style and more cartoony style. The world building was done very well. Enough background was given to understand the actions behind each character and each piece of information was introduced slowly. However, the story was a little too heavy for me. There was no room to breathe, which might have been the point as this is about a war. However, by the end of the book, I really didn’t want to continue since there was only depressing event after depressing event.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a unique world! I’m riveted as I learn more about the complex relationship between centaurs and humans.

As always, the artwork is great here. I love Ryo’s art style. It’s so very distinctive! To be fair, though, because there’s far more action in this manga than in most of the others I’ve read by him, it can be a bit difficult to follow at times. There’s also several moments where the art looks more like a sketch than a proper drawing.

Regardless, I look forward to learning more about Matsukaze and Kohibari! They’re so different from each other, and it makes their interactions all the more engaging!

[Emilie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Après avoir lu MADK j'ai voulu me lancer dans cette histoire, surtout d'abord pour le style de dessin de la mangaka, et aussi parce que je trouve super original le fait que l'histoire mette en scène des centaures. C'est pas commun, et je suis pas du tout déçue, j'ai très envie de lire la suite. C'était parfois difficile de déchiffrer certaines cases au niveau du dessin, et le style est très inconsistant, mais on s'y fait plutôt vite, j'aime beaucoup l'anatomie des centaures, et bravo à elle parce que les chevaux c'est l'enfer à dessiner.

[Nicholas Driscoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

時代劇っぽいファンタジーの話です。日本の昔、人馬がいました。山の人馬も何か農業の人馬も。最初は人間はその人馬と一緒に平和で暮らしていたけど、ある日大きい戦争が始まって、人間は人馬を捕まって戦争のために使った。もし人馬は協力しないなら、腕を切り落とす。この話の主人公は山の人馬と腕を切り落とされた人馬。松風とこひばり。松風はすごく強い山の人馬、伝統的な人。だから人間は一生懸命松風を捕まろうとした。やっとできました。松風は妹を助けるのために自分を犠牲した。

そして松風は人間の村に連れてきた。人間たちは彼を支配しようとしたけど、頑固な人馬だ。松風はこひばりにあった。こひばりは長い時人間と暮らしたけど、逃げたいから協力して二人で脱出のプランを作ってできた。でももちろん人間たちは彼らを追ってる。色々な冒険がある。

とても面白い話。松風は三船敏郎みたいな人から、僕が好き。人間はとても残酷な敵、恐怖！アートもきれい、y0モアの場面も面白い。でも時々絵はあいまいし、日本語は難しいし、迷っちゃう。それにしてもおすすめ。楽しかった。

[Emma's In Stock · Rating 4 out of 5]

You hear the word "centaur" and think of majesty, mythical, and whimsical. And then this story hits you so hard and unexpectedly with some insidious, horrifying imagery and you're left with a story that is so mesmerizing. The art style helps significantly, with some particularly stunning and gutpunching panels.

Let's just say that it's now my personal mission to keep reading this series.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sumiyoshi's artwork pops with a vibrant and sometimes horrifying shades of love and hate, war and violence as a mountain centaur must face off against the dangers of humanity who wants to break him and tame centaurs who have seemingly become docile, at least until a frail but feisty unlikely friend becomes an ally that has his own plan of escape and a chance to risk it all.

[xkdlaej · Rating 4 out of 5]

悲哀嘅故事，講述人馬點被人類捕獵並奴役。
劇情好有potential，作者高超嘅畫功亦將人馬呈現得好有活力。尤其小雲雀真係好可愛呀~~~ 即使睇完第三部，未必能夠認同佢嘅處理方法 （為咗揾自己逃走嘅機會，幫人類捕獵咗好多人馬，更令松風同權田經歷一場絕望嘅捕獵），但依然會為佢覺得心痛。

最鍾意嘅角色應該會係三國，佢嘅故事非常令人心痛，但之後嘅轉變亦好有啓發性。有少少覺得以三國嘅角度寫人馬嘅故事，將會比宜家更帶出嗰啲theme。同埋如果作者可以拖長嚟寫，成個故事再飽滿啲再多啲張力，會更好睇。

[Lottie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sumiyoshi is the god of fantasy manga. The art is stunningly gorgeous and the world building is interesting.
The story has a nice balance of serious and silly scenes that keep it fun and make the characters very endearing.

[Loë · Rating 5 out of 5]

Une bonne découverte au milieu des centaures. Entre la guerre et la convoitise que les humains ont pour les mythiques créatures. J'ai étais vite émerger dans ce mode Cruel que Kohibarie essaie de fuir et avec l'aide de Matsukaze, il y arrive enfin.

[AnaisCouloigner · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'espérais quelque chose de cool vu le thème : cela s'est révélé étonnamment génial (surtout le tome 2)

[Nor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fucking awesome. Sad and dire, beautiful and such a cool concept. Can't wait for an english translation to arrive too.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un premier tome excellent.

[Ctecain · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Excellent, des dessins sublimes et une réappropriation du mythe des centaures hyper intéressante. Je m’attends à une grande histoire, je vais lire la suite très vite.

[Cara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it.

This is one of my new favorites. I like how the blue haired centaur becomes like a second son to the red haired centaur. I’ve already pre ordered the second volume.

[Raven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this volume! I will say that you can tell this is this author's first story. The art is gorgeous and the story is breathtaking. However, it's hard to tell what is going on at times. And it's hard to tell who exactly is talking at any given time. But with some practice i bet you this story will blossom and become the manga of this year, it's just that good!

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This first volume is amazing! The artwork is gorgeous and the story is told at a breakneck speed. I am immediately going to read the next volume.

[Catalina Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exiting! ^^

[Brianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the most unique things I’ve read. Mixing centaurs and feudal Japan is so interesting, I’m hooked

[Raini Biddle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully drawn series! I love this artist's art style! I just wish this series was easier to get ahold of because it's always on backstock!

[ツツ]

Love it. The world building feels well rounded. as fantasy or social commentary, either or both ways are enjoyable.


Visual book 18 (manga) of 2025

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is brutal. In the story's world, centaurs are indigenous to Japan, and coexisted with humans for quite some time...until the humans figured out that they could use them. Now humans hunt centaurs for war and labor, and should a centaur prove too difficult, they'll have their arms amputated. The entire book feels like an extended metaphor for the conquest of indigenous peoples (seriously, you could replace "humans" with "white people" and have a history book from North and South America), and it works very well. It's visceral. It needs to be.

[ash · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, this was a fun first volume to get into! good premise and ofc i think centaurs are cool af. i like the characters so far and the art is sick. only complaint is the humans calling the young centaurs calves rather than foals lol (which i've learned is a translation error and not the author's doing)