Samurai Legend [Paperback]

Kan Furuyama (Author), Jiro Taniguchi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2003

With Artwork by the Tezuka Award-winning artist of Benkei in New York, Jiro Taniguchi.

From the pages of history comes the legend of the Samurai Jubei and the book he was pledged to protect. Now that book has been stolen and Jubei must retrieve it before Japan descends into bloody civil war.

format 5.5 x 8 - a right to left book!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Furuyama and Taniguchi have produced a fictional work based on actual events that took place in Japan in 1649 and 1650. Yagyu Jubei is a legendary swordsman, still written about in novels and on television. The real Jubei was a martial artist loyal to the ruling Tokugawa house, and during the period covered here, the Tokugawas struggle for power against the retired emperor. The Yagyu family includes Jubei's father, Yagyu Munenori, a master sword fighting instructor and leader of a secret organization that supports the Tokugawa family and provides them with intelligence. Jubei's younger half brother, Lord Rokumaru, will later succeed their father as the organization's head. The story itself is set within a framing sequence, narrated in 1899 by Kaishu Katsu, an aged political leader who is another actual historical figure. While some critics call Katsu a traitor, Furuyama feels his actions helped save Japan from a bloody civil war and bases much of this graphic novel on the discussion and quotations of Katsu, who makes the point that if Japan had gone through this war it might very well have fallen prey to imperialistic European powers (as India and China did). Taniguchi makes Jubei look almost like a superhero, often taking on multiple opponents and defeating them. Many sequences consist of wordless combat scenes, and Taniguchi admits in his notes that his initial motive for working on the book was to draw fighting scenes. Indeed, violence may play too large a role here for mature readers.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Written in the authentic Japanese format of right to left, this graphic novel is exciting, violent, and involving. A complex tale of theft, honor, ninjas, samurai, and feudal lords, it unfolds as a book called The Yagyu Secret Chronicles, which holds the fate of Japan, is stolen and Lord Mitsuyoshi, aka Yagyu Jubei, begins his campaign to retrieve it. Taniguchi's attention to detail is truly outstanding and the artist has captured that time period in Japanese history. The panels are easy to follow and the fight scenes are realistic. The who's who and introduction present the main characters and explain the historical basis for the story. Manga fans and reluctant readers will be drawn into the story by the artwork.
Kathleen A. Nester, Downingtown High Ninth Grade Center, PA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: CPM Manga (March 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158664856X
• ISBN-13: 978-1586648565
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,055,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Samurai Master, June 3, 2004

By 

"musashi311" (Woodbury, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Samurai Legend (Paperback)

This is one of the greatest manga that I have read. It is quite historically accurate. The art is second only to Vagabond. The fighting is drawn in a way that you understand it. Most samurai manga show a guy cut and somehow his opponent falls. This manga pretty much tought me how to fight, even listing techniques that the oppenents were using. I was very lucky to find this one. I would recommend it to any samurai fan.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BUY THIS BOOK, June 3, 2004

By 

Laura Lingle - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Samurai Legend (Paperback)

this is the best historicl fiction manga.the drawings are incredible with a great storyline.and being a one book story its a great value. if your a huge kenshin fan you might like it for the fighting aspect but its dead serius.IF you want a great historical fiction manga with incredible fight scenes get this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars ONE-EYED LEGEND, October 11, 2005

By 

Sesho "www.sesho.libsyn.com" (Pasadena, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Samurai Legend (Paperback)

In 17th century Japan the country is still ruled by a Shogunate who has reduced the status of the retired Emperor Gomino to that of a figurehead whose only function is to give legitamacy to the military leader at the head of the government. But the Emperor, in his old age, thirsts for more power and wishes to return Japan to a time when the monarchy was predominant. So he enlists Yashamaro, a loyal and lethal swordsman, to steal the "Yagyu Secret Chronicles", mysterious documents left to the Yagyu family by a former shogun that could spark a civil war and plunge the land into darkness and despair. The Yagyu are supposed to be the guardians of the Chronicles and must retrieve them even as the Emperor tries to escape his enforced confinement to raise an army of rebels to overthrow the Shogunate! Jubei, a young Yagyu warrior and future samurai legend sets out to stop the rebellion before it starts and to recover the Chronicles, along with his half-brother Rokumaru.

This was my first experience with historical manga and I wasn't disappointed. The action was easy to follow with clean lines and detailed but uncluttered panels that were like watching smooth film. I felt the characterization could have been handled a little better, especially with Jubei's half-brother whose dialogue mostly consisted of "Yes", "Yes", and "Yes" and "Brother". You did really get a feel for the time period reading this and it makes me want to read more works by these manga-ka and explore the genre further.