Samurai Manga
Samurai have been a popular subject for manga since the 1955 debut of Mitsuteru Yokoyama’s The Silent Sword. Yokoyama went on to even greater fame as the creator of the giant-robot series Gigantor, but The Silent Sword, his first full-length manga, was a hit with readers and an inspiration to other artists. Soon action manga set in historical Japan became common in shonen (boys’) manga magazines.
Because the age of the samurai spans many centuries, samurai manga artists have a wide variety of settings to choose from. All of the manga below are available in English translation.
Muromachi Period (1336-1573)
Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1573-1603)
These eras were marked by power struggles between the shoguns and their daimyo, or lords. Although peace was maintained for a while, by the mid-15th century Japan had dissolved into the Sengoku, or Warring States Period, a time of constant civil war. Popular fiction set during the Warring States Period often features the legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, author of The Book of Five Rings.
Vagabond
By Takehiko Inoue
Takehiko Inoue’s first love is basketball, which he helped popularize in Japan with the hit 1980s manga Slam Dunk. But he’s devoted much of his career to this long-running, gorgeously drawn retelling of the life of swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. In Inoue’s version of the story, based loosely on the popular novel Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa, Musashi overcomes a troubled youth as a “devil child” to become a gifted swordsman. But when his army is defeated, he descends into a life of crime. Readers familiar with Japanese history know that Musashi is destined to redeem himself—but also to face his lifelong friend and rival, Sasaki Kojirō, in an infamous duel on the island of Funajima.
Usagi Yojimbo
By Stan Sakai
An American comic by Japanese-American artist Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo is set in a version of historical Japan populated by anthropomorphic animals. Miyamoto Usagi, a samurai rabbit (usagi means “rabbit”) based loosely on Miyamoto Musashi, travels the countryside as a ronin, or masterless samurai. Despite the cute, cartoony art, Usagi Yojimbo is not a comedy series. The animal characters are treated seriously, and the fight scenes are elegantly drawn. Sakai is friends with Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, creators of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which led to crossover appearances by Usagi in the Turtles comic books and TV show in the 1980s.
Edo Period (1603-1868)
Japan’s period of self-imposed isolation is perhaps the most popular setting for Japanese TV dramas, historical films, and manga. Often seen as a romantic period of knights, lords, and ladies living by strict moral codes, it was an era of relative peace and marked the beginning of modern Japanese culture.
Lone Wolf and Cub
Written by Kazuo Koike, Art by Goseki Kojima
One of the more respectable titles by pulpy manga writer Kazuo Koike, Lone Wolf and Cub (known in Japan simply as Kozure Ōkami, or Wolf and Cub), has been a perennial hit since its debut in 1970. When samurai Ogami Ittō returns home to find his entire family, except for his baby son Daigoro, assassinated, he vows revenge. Ittō travels the country seeking the killers, all the while pushing Daigoro in a baby cart. Lone Wolf and Cub features some of the most spectacular fight scenes in manga, including one duel that runs for an incredible 178 panels. The story has been adapted into seven films and multiple TV series. Koike and Kojima collaborated on another manga set during the Edo period, Samurai Executioner, also available in English.
Blade of the Immortal
By Hiroaki Samura
The samurai Manji is made “immortal” by the legendary 800-year-old nun Yaobikuni, who uses the healing powers of the kessen-chu, or bloodworm, to give people superhuman powers of regeneration. Having caused the deaths of 100 of his fellow samurai, Manji vows to make amends by killing 1,000 evil men, while at the same time searching for a cure for his immortality. Along the way, he gets involved in a war between rival dōjōs, meets other immortals, and, in the later volumes, joins forces with the Tokugawa shogunate.
Ōoku
By Fumi Yoshinaga
In an alternate universe, a strange plague hits Japan during the Edo period, killing three-quarters of the male population. A female-dominated society arises, ruled by a female shogun who keeps a harem of beautiful men. While becoming enmeshed in the romantic intrigue of the harem, the shogun discovers evidence that her society used to be run by men. Fumi Yoshinaga’s imaginative alternate history envisions how a matriarchy could function in medieval Japan; men still learn fighting skills, but it’s women who lead troops to battle as samurai and daimyo. Ōoku won this year’s Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize for manga.
Meiji Period (1868-1912)
During the Meiji Restoration, Japan was forced to reopen its ports, leading to a rebellion against the shogunate and the restoration of the Emperor as the supreme ruler of Japan. This tumultuous period of civil war and modernization is another popular setting for manga.
Rurouni Kenshin
By Nobuhiro Watsuki
Easily the most popular samurai manga in the U.S., this series follows Himura Kenshin, a former warrior and assassin who vows never to kill again and wanders Japan making amends for all the deaths he caused. With the help of Kaoru, a young woman who runs a kendo school, Himura settles down and starts to build a new life—until his past catches up to him. Rurouni Kenshin combines samurai drama with romance and comedy; Himura’s pacifism, although treated seriously in the action sequences, is often played for laughs as he clashes with Kaoru’s fiery personality.
The Future
The era of samurai ended with the Meiji Restoration, but that hasn’t stopped some artists from imagining samurai in science-fiction settings.
Ronin
By Frank Miller
One of the first American artists influenced by manga, Frank Miller developed elements of his bold, kinetic art style from the samurai manga of Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima. Ronin opens with a medieval battle between an unnamed ronin and a demonic geisha named Agat. Eight centuries later, in a dystopian New York City, high-tech experiments accidentally free the souls of the ronin and Agat from a cursed sword. The ronin possesses the body of a paraplegic named Billy; together, they craft a cybernetic body and set out to stop Agat. Miller previously incorporated ideas from manga and Japanese culture into his run on the Marvel comic Daredevil, but the six-issue Ronin is his most obviously manga-influenced work.
Afro Samurai
By Takashi Okazaki
Afro Samurai began as a doujinshi, or self-published manga, before being adapted into an anime series. Set in a futuristic world reminiscent of feudal Japan, it follows a big-haired samurai called Afro on a quest to avenge his father’s murder. In Afro’s world, swordsmen battle for the right to kill the godlike leader “Number One” and rule the world. Afro’s father was the previous Number One, so the only way for him to get revenge is to defeat all comers for the right to challenge the current Number One, the man who killed his father. The anime adaptation has been a hit in the U.S. thanks to its offbeat animation and cast of celebrity voices, with Samuel L. Jackson starring as Afro.
By Shaenon K. Garrity, writes and draws comics, including the daily webcomic "Skin Horse," and works as a freelance manga editor for VIZ Media
