Customer Reviews

Samurai Legend

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Jiro Taniguchi's art is great, I've read all these prior to Samurai Legend:
The Walking Man
A Distant Neighborhood, Vol. 1
A Distant Neighborhood: Volume 2
Hotel Harbour View (Hotel Harbor View)
Really liked this historical manga, good story, nice drawings. Definitely want to see more from Taniguchi like A Zoo In Winter

I was really excited to read this. At first I thought I was going to be yawning through it, but once it picks up you can't put it down. Great story-telling, great pace and Taniguchi Jiro is beyond words. Great read. If you're interested in Japanese history, samurai or awesome sword fights this is the book for you.