Every country is known for creating something that the world enjoys. Japan is no different, as they have brought to life many genres through the black and white pages of manga. The richest genres that the Japanese have created come from their own history as they revisit and tell their own history. Japan is famous for manga and what better way then to tell the history of the Samurai then to show it in a manga book. Here are 3 of the best Samurai manga you can read.
Lone Wolf & Cub:
Lone Wolf & Cub is a classic manga and a legendary Samurai manga written by Kazuo Koike and illustrated by Goseki Kojima. The story focuses on Ogami Itt? who has the prestigious job of being the Shogun’s executor. Due to the careful planning of the Ura-Yagy? clan Ogami’s household servants are murdered along with his wife, along with the shogun’s crest placed in his shine. Thus making it seem Ogami wants to kill the Shogun, which is part of the Ura-Yagy? clan’s plan to secure power. As a result, Ogami, along with his son, travel across the land of Japan in order to avoid assassins and to kill members of the Ura-Yagy? clan. As a result of traveling together and restoring their honor they develop the name Lone Wolf & Cub. The manga does an excellent job of showing what Tokugawa Japan looked like both on a village and country level, giving the reader a historical sense of Samurai life. Furthermore, the manga does go through a range of weapons including D?tanuki , Katanas and Wakizashi swords. Also the manga covers other weapons that samurai used including sickles and Kusarigama thus giving the reader a basic introduction to what Samurai and other people used during this era. The final element the manga captures is this notion of bushido and honor as Ogami feels that in order to restore his name and his clan’s name he has to go on this quest to destroy the ones who disgraced him. This mentality truly shows how deep this idea of honor is embedded in Japanese culture due to the rich history that Japan has with their Samurais.
Vagabond :
Unlike Lone Wolf & Cub, Vagabond dives into the everyday lives of Samurais attempting to make a name for themselves in the early years of the Tokugawa era.The manga focuses on the main character Miyamoto Musashi/ Shinmen Takez? who has promised his childhood friend Hon’iden Matahachi that he would better his life. Musashi attempts to better his life by traveling all over Japan challenging different swordsmanship schools in order to develop a name for himself. As he is challenging these schools and known swordsmen he is learning that there is more to being a Samurai then power. In particular, he is learning that technique, skill, honor, and the idea that life is precious all play an important component to the Samurai life style. This is only further developed as he is challenging more and more people and begins to develop rivalries with particular swordsmen that bring out these qualities in him as he progresses through life. The manga captures the journey of Mursashi from a young age to the middle of his adulthood and shows how rivalries and events have shaped him into being a Samurai. It focuses on his every day struggles as he finds the Samurai path suited for him, while dealing with moral conflicts and physical conflicts. The manga does an excellent job of capturing the emotional side of a group that is not depicted in this way. Unlike Lone Wolf & Cub, Vagabond truly focuses on the personality of one Samurai and his everyday life choices as he is discovering who he is.
Seven Samurai:
No Samurai list would be complete without mention of this anime: Seven Samurai. This anime is a new interpretation on the classic Seven Samurai as seven Samurai defend a village for a small sum of rice against bandits. Ultimately depicting the Samurai has noble, good, just characters. The anime follows the same story but brings it into the future as a war has just ended with many villagers being terrorized by bandits. The bandits are not normal bandits as they were former Samurai who fused themselves with machines and are now weapons. As a result, we see the Samurai in this anime face machines to generate a more futuristic element to the plot. The story follows a similar ending as the Samurai beat the bandits and end the corruption that caused all the attacks. This anime provides a new interpretation on the classic story that in many ways modernizes the original story and the ideas it is attempting to convey. In doing this it, it helps to keep the story alive, as it is another version of telling the same story. Since the story is set in a futuristic setting it also has updated many of the characters to have enhancements/ technology, which only further expands the direction the samurai genre can go into while still honoring the traditional elements. The Seven Samurai anime version does an excellent job of honoring the original while promoting and bringing the genre to new heights.
You can purchase the classic Seven Samurai movie here.
