Forum - View topicSamurai Manga and Swordman Thread
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darkhunter
 Posts: 2992 Location: Los Angelas |
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Discussion is mainly based on Samurai and Assassin type manga.
I really like samurai/assassin and been trying to find any book based on samurai or swordplay that involve fedual japan setting or similar. So is there any book (Licensed by an American Company) that deal with samurai or swordplay? Then Post. Manga with swordplay/samurai: Blade of the Immortal Chronicles of the Cursed Sword Legend of Kamui Lone Wolf and Cub Peace Maker Kurogane Rurouni Kenshin Samurai Crusader Samurai Deeper Kyo Samurai Executioner Samurai Legend Samurai Shodown Vagabond Not yet licensed: Genzo Hitogata Kiwa Kurogane Otogizoushi Samurai Champloo Shura no Mon Yaiba: The Legendary Samurai Last edited by darkhunter on Wed Apr 27, 2005 6:15 am; edited 10 times in total |
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Kagemusha
 Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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As many people may have guessed, Im quite the fan of Jidaimono, or historical tales, and have read quite a few of them. Many of them are not worth reading past 1 volume, but there is always a superb manga waiting to be read. Right now, I guess I would go with Blade of the Immortal for my favorite, but Lone Wolf and Cub is certainly a classic tale. Vagabond is also a great work. Lone Wolf is probobly the most traditional of the three in terms of storytelling and content. Vagabond also holds to tradition and focus on Musashi's development as a man. Blade on the other hand is a departure from the traditional view in terms of both content and storytelling. It told more like a modern story and features characters who had dynamic (and incredibly deep) personalities usually not found in the genre. Also, unlike the refined philosophy of LWaC and Vagabond, Blade presents its concepts about humanity and honor very brutally, as all the characters (with the exception of a couple, like the lunatic Shira) are neither good nor evil, even the "heros". Rather than glorifying Bushido and family honor, Blade shows how they only produce hatred and suffering for the people who believe in them. In addition to this, each of these titles are told very diffrently. Both LWaC and Vagabond have a refined storytelling style, right down to the way the characters talk. Blade often relies on the ability to shock and horrify the reader (not always with battles, and the Gathering proved that an interogation without any action at all can be just as gripping). I love all three titles, but I guess at this moment I would have to pick Blade. Of the three, it probobly has the largest female following in America as well (my explanation is the drama as well as deep characters attract girls, and I'm sure they don't mind that there is no nudity. Plus, I'm sure Kagehisa could be comparable with other bishonen
 ).
As for less serious titles, Rurouni Kenshin has amused me and its a fun read, and I can see why people can fall in love with it, as well as how it can appeal to both boys and girls. Most of the other shonen mangas I've read (here in the Us and through scans) have bored me to death with poor character and stupid storylines. Of all the titles that have yet to be licenced, I would pick the Kurogane (not peacemaker, this is diffrent) as the one I most look forward to. Its definitally an interesting tale about a mechanical samurai. It does borrow ALOT from Blade of the Immortal, but its still quite good. In the same magazine as Vagabond (Morning). But I'm also praying that someone picks up Tezuka's Dororo, another samurai manga that I have yet to read. My current avatar is the main character, only drawn by Blade artist Hiroaki Samura (combining two of my favorite manga-ka  ).
My pal jeabus over at the Darkhorse message boards put alot of effort into making a MASSIVE list of Jidaimono, but it was lost when they were having trouble (I will not mention the person who caused this trouble or wh)  Hopefully it will get remade eventually.
Last edited by Kagemusha on Fri Oct 01, 2004 3:07 am; edited 3 times in total |
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lianncoop
Past ANN Contributor
 Posts: 1705 Location: Indiana |
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Would Chronicles of the Cursed Sword fit into the list? Manwha, but dealing with swordplay nonetheless. Also Peace Maker Kurogane that was just released by ADV is another.
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Kagemusha
Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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Is it set in Japan or Korea? But since the title of the thread includes swordplay, I guess it could be ok to include.
Here are some more things released in English: -Legend of Kamui -Samurai Crusader -Samurai Legend There are more, but I am too tired to think right now. I'll post some info on the series later as well. |
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darkhunter
Posts: 2992 Location: Los Angelas |
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Yea it would. Thanks for the info.
Added those title to the main post. Is Viz still releasing this Samurai Crusader? I think me and you are the only one that really like samurai-type books other than kenshin in this forum. Also I believe when Kenshin came out, it had more female fans than male? Or at least more female fan letter. Also the historical facts are interesting and probably make the book a lot more interesting. Jin-E was a bad ass villian. Villians is what makes any samurai manga good. I didn't feel the same way about Lone Wolf because a lot of the villian are just lords that die the same way. Maybe I need to read more into it. |
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Kagemusha
Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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The thing about Lone Wolf is its not like most modern Samurai manga. You'r not going to see alot of drawn out, detailed fights. Once the characters are introduced and the conflict sets up, the main story starts off in volume 9, when we really start to see Ogami and Daigoro's conflict with the Yagyu unfold. It focus alot on philosophy and the characters spiritual journeys throught the 28 volumes. And Yagyu does develop into a very interesting character, especially towards the end.
As for the Kenshin question, I can only guess that in adition to being a good manga, Kenshin's character attracted alot of girls to it. Here are some descriptions of the mangas I gave to you: Legend of Kamui-When you open the first volume of this series, you'r probobly going to think Lone Wolf and Cub. The art styles are very similar (but in some ways I actually prefer Kamui). Unlike Lone Wolf, Kamui is only two volumes, and I believe it is a sequel to an original Kamui manga. This is the tale of Kamui, a renegade ninja being chased by his old guild. A pretty good manga. Not the best, and I can see some people not liking it, but check it out if you want some old school ninja action. Samurai Legend-This one volume work follows Yagyu Jubei, who is based on a legendary Samurai, and his quest to retrive the Yagyu Secret Chronicles that were stolen from his clan. This is a good read, especially if you want something thats really packed full of historical refrences and names. Right now, I'm sure that we will soon see the new Lone Wolf and Cub sequel in America soon. I'm also interested in "The Manga Classics of Japan", a work that retells some of Japans most famous historical and folk tales. I'm sure it will include some Samurai ones. It won the Media Arts Award (also won by fellow Samurai manga Vagabond and Blade of the Immortal), so I'm sure it will be pretty good. Whew, I didn't mean to make it that long! I'll post some other Samurai mangas I've read next time. |
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Kagemusha
Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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I just noticed the note at the bottom about the new Musashi book. Have you read "Musashi" by Eiji Yoshikawa? Its quite good. Its a retelling of Musashi's life, with some dramatic elements in it. Vagabond, while about Musashi, is an adaptation of Yoshikawa's story. I also heard somewher that Blade of the Immortal draws influence from it, though I don't see much except in Manji's similarities to Musashi: both admit to being hicks (Manji called himself a "mountain boy" in a recent issue), both have unconventional fighting styles, and both have terrible hygiene and very scruffy appearences.
Another book is "The Book of Five Rings". Apparently, when Musashi knew he was going to die, he told someone where to find him and went up onto a mountain. There he wrote TBoFR, filled with philisophical strategys and ways to better oneself spiritually, and died shortly after. Even today, Japanese buisness men read it for advice. Its quite confusing and you will have to think alot about it, but it has some pretty interesting ideas in it. But like I said, it is very confusing and often cryptic. |
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Kagemusha
Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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Well I just finished "Peacemaker Kurogane". Its a pretty good little manga, granted it is filled with flaws. I'm a bit interested in the main character's inner conflict,and some of the other characters look amusing. But the story is setting up to be pretty standard for the genre. And there are a bit too many characters. The art isn't that great, but it still gets the job done. It can't hold a flame to the genre's more serious works in terms of depth, style and substance, but its not really suppose to. What it is suppose to be is a light hearted romp filled with fun, if not cliche, characters and the standard shonen action. I'm looking forward to reading more of it, along with Rurouni Kenshin, but unless it matures or improves, I don't see it rising up to the level of a Samurai manga classic. Overall, a fun read that if I had to rate it, I would give it a 3 out of 5.
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lianncoop
Past ANN Contributor
Posts: 1705 Location: Indiana |
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Yeah, it suffers quite a bit since we don't have the first part to read first. |
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Acolyte
 Posts: 100 Location: Searching high and low for my missing waist line. |
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A quick query about that. I'm new to manga (only been into it about three months or so), and I just grabbed Peace Maker Kurogane. I like it enough to be willing to check out the next one, but...., if I read between the lines correctly, there is a story line before this one, a "prequel". Did I just miss it because I'm new to the genre, or did whom-ever that owns the rights not release it in the US: should I hold my breath?? |
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Kagemusha
Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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From what I can understand, ADV has not licenced to first part of the storyline. The only explanation is that they will soon release the anime, and from what I have seen of that (about 10 episodes) it is the first part of the storyline. So if your interested enough in it, pick that up when it is released.
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darkhunter
Posts: 2992 Location: Los Angelas |
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ADV made an interesting move by including the manga for fans that brought the Limited edition of Peace Maker Kurogane (anime). If it is the second part, I believe the manga would compliment the anime, therefore it's better to check out the anime first? |
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Acolyte
Posts: 100 Location: Searching high and low for my missing waist line. |
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Kagemusha wrote:
darkhunter wrote:
My thanks to you both, I'll be sure to keep my eyes peeled. Here's an item that you might find interesting. In your talks of Lone Wolf and Cub, it dawned on me that I had seen that title before, but not in manga form. So I delved deep into the dark recesses of my back closet and found (tons of killer dust bunnies!!)  *hack-cough*: In 1987, First Comics published Kazuo Koike/Goseki Kojima's work in an american style graphic novel series; several issues in fact, of which I have 25. I can only guess it's the same story line. But now in order to find out I have to start collecting it all over again in it's manga layout. My, what an expensive trail of exploration and discovery this could turn out to be....; ah well.
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Kagemusha
Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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Yes, Lone Wolf and Cub was one of the first mangas published in America, but I don't think it was released in its entirtly by First. Definitally an interesting find.
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darkhunter
Posts: 2992 Location: Los Angelas |
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Yea an interesting find. You can still get the first printin on ebay but It's better to get the dark horse version. The japanese film was fairly good too.
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