Samurai Executioner Omnibus #1 Review: As Awesome as it is Historically Accurate

Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima are known to otakus as the creators of “Lone Wolf and Cup.” One of their lesser known series, “Samurai Executioner,” is yet another series that encompasses their creativity.

Yamada Asaemon is one of the world’s most skilled swordsmen. After cutting his father’s head off during his seppuku (ritual suicide) Asaemon, now known as Kubikiri Asa (Decapitator Asaemon,) performs executions in the employ of the shogun.

The best way to describe “Samurai Executioner” is that it’s a historically accurate samurai drama. Historically accurate in that in every chapter we learn new information about the laws and execution practices of the Edo Japan. It’s a lot to take in, especially for those who have trouble remembering Japanese words. Though some of it, like how the decapitations are carried out, is interesting.

That does not mean that this manga is all education and no story. There is a n intriguing story here. Each chapter we are introduced to new characters who break a major law (murder, usually) and how they go about not being beheaded. This may sound like a “monster of the day” story, but the circumstances are enjoyable. For example in chapter three we have one blind man who murdered his ex-wife and her lover and now holed himself up inside an aristocrat’s storehouse. On top of that, he has the lord of the house’s daughter as a hostage. It’s story lines like this that make the manga interesting.

One thing that can be said about Asaemon is that at first there isn’t much to him. He’s the typical awesome swordsman who can cleanly cut a person’s tattoo off their necks with one clean cut. We do slowly learn more about him as the manga goes on, but it does take a while to make him go from a plot device to an actual character.

The art is the rarely seen “realistic” manga style. Realistic in that the characters look colder to sketches of real people than a comic character. In a genre filled with big eyes, small mouth cartoonish looking characters it come as a surprise to some to see this style. The style works perfectly with the manga’s dark, gritty tone. This is especially true with the decapitations and, in some chapters, women getting raped by the suspects.

“Samurai Executioner” is a gritty and educational manga series by the creators of “Lone Wolf and Cub.” Even though it may have the monster of the week format and Asaemon isn’t a complete character yet, it’s still worth reading if you’re craving something different for your manga collection.